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Baker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Boy Ranchers in Camp + or The Water Fight at Diamond X + +Author: Willard F. Baker + +Illustrator: Thelma Gooch + +Release Date: October 29, 2008 [EBook #27094] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-cover"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-cover.jpg" ALT="Cover art" BORDER="2" WIDTH="475" HEIGHT="741"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 475px"> +Cover art +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT=""LOOK OUT!" QUICKLY YELLED NORT. "JUMP FOR YOUR LIVES! IT'S A FLOOD!" "The Boy Ranchers in Camp."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="408" HEIGHT="652"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 408px"> +"LOOK OUT!" QUICKLY YELLED NORT. "JUMP FOR YOUR LIVES! IT'S A FLOOD!" "The Boy Ranchers in Camp." +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE +<BR> +BOY RANCHERS +<BR> +IN CAMP +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OR +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +<I>The Water Fight at Diamond X</I> +</H3> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +By +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +WILLARD F. BAKER +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +Author of "The Boy Ranchers,"<BR>"The Boy Ranchers on the Trail," etc. +</H4> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +<I>ILLUSTRATED</I> +</H3> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +NEW YORK +<BR> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES +<BR> +By WILLARD F. BAKER +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +12mo. Cloth. Frontispiece +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE BOY RANCHERS<BR> +or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP<BR> +or The Water Fight at Diamond X<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL<BR> +or The Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY +<BR> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY +<BR> +THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP +<BR> +Printed in U. S. A. +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">A NIGHT RIDE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">THE WARNING</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">A STRANGE REAPPEARANCE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">ANOTHER WARNING</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">TROUBLE AT SQUARE M</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">DOUBLING UP</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">DRY AGAIN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">A SHOT IN THE NIGHT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">INTO THE TUNNEL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">THE RUSH OF WATERS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">THE RISING FLOOD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">WHERE DID IT GO?</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">A NIGHT ATTACK</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">THE BRANDING IRON</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">QUEER ACTIONS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">"GERMS!"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">ROPED!</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">AN EXPEDITION IN THE DARK</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">INTO THE DEPTHS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">THE FIGURE ON THE ROCK</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">THE WATER GATE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">THE CONSPIRATORS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">A POWERFUL STREAM</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">HAPPY VALLEY</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP +</H1> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE +</H3> + +<P> +"Look out there, Bud! Look out! There you go!" +</P> + +<P> +"Side-stepping soap dishes! What's the idea? Whoa, there, Sock!" +</P> + +<P> +The pinto pony reared, swerved sharply to one side as a black streak +shot across the trail almost under his feet and then, when the animal +came to a sudden stop, there shot over his head the boy who had given +vent to the last exclamation. +</P> + +<P> +Bud Merkel came down sprawling on all fours in a bunch of grass which +served, in a great measure, to break the force of the catapult over his +pony's head. And then, as the lad righted himself and limped over to +catch his steed, he cried: +</P> + +<P> +"What in the name of the petrified prune pie was that, Billee?" +</P> + +<P> +"A jack, Bud! A jack rabbit, and as black as gunpowder! Yo' shore are +in for some bad luck, now!" +</P> + +<P> +"Bad luck! I should say so! Almost breaking my neck, and laming +Sock," and the lad looked anxiously at his pinto, being relieved to +find, however, that the animal had suffered no harm. +</P> + +<P> +"But this won't be all!" declared Billee Dobb. "I never see a black +jack shoot in front of a man yet that bad luck didn't follow!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, let's make it go some to catch us!" suggested Bud as he leaped +to the saddle, after making sure that the girths were tight. "Black +jack! First one I ever saw," and he looked off in the distance toward +a streak of dust, which was all that now represented the frightened +rabbit that had shot across the trail so unexpectedly. +</P> + +<P> +"They aren't plentiful; thank your stars!" exclaimed the old cowboy. +"I'm glad it didn't happen to <I>me</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if you'd a' toppled over your critter's head there'd be a bigger +crack in the ground!" laughed Bud, as he looked at his companion's +greater girth and weight. "It came as sudden as a flash of lightning, +that jack!" +</P> + +<P> +"Bad luck allers does come that-a-way," croaked Old Billee Dobb. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you and your bad luck!" laughed Bud. "Come on now, hump yourself! +Hump yourself, you old soap-footing specimen of a slab of saltpeter!" +he cried to his pony. "Mosey along!" +</P> + +<P> +"What's your rush, Bud? Anybody's take a notion t' think you was in +suthin' of a hurry, t' hear you talkin' that-a-way t' your critter," +remarked Billee as he ambled along behind his more impetuous companion. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurry, Billee? Of course I'm in a hurry!" admitted Bud, a tall, +well-tanned lad as he adjusted himself to his saddle, and dashed ahead +of his companion on the dusty trail. "I reckon you'd be in a rush, +too, if your cousins that you hadn't seen since last fall were coming +to camp all summer with you!" and Bud Merkel swung around in his +creaking saddle to note the pace of his companion. +</P> + +<P> +"Them two tenderfeet comin' out to Diamond X ag'in?" asked Old Billee +Dobb. +</P> + +<P> +"Course they are!" answered Bud. "But they're a long shot from being +tenderfeet, now, since they helped get rid of Del Pinzo and his +cattle-rustling gang, and did their share in solving the mystery of the +Triceratops. Tenderfeet! Guess you'd better not let 'em <I>hear</I> you +call 'em that!" +</P> + +<P> +"Mebby not, son! Mebby not!" agreed Old Billee, rather mildly as he +tried to urge his slower-going animal to keep pace with Bud's. For the +pinto, responding to the spur of voice and heel, had shot ahead. "I +sorter forgot your cousins did have a hand in the lively doin's at +Diamond X last season. So they're coming out again, be they?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and we're going to make a camp of it, over in Flume Valley. I'm +going to raise there the finest bunch of steers you ever hazed to the +stock yards, and Nort and Dick are going to help me. I'm riding to +meet them now at the water-hole, and we're going back to stay all +summer in Flume Valley." +</P> + +<P> +"Hum! Flume Valley!" mused the older cowboy, for both riders were of +that class, though Bud Merkel was the son of the man who owned Diamond +X, and other important western ranches. "Flume Valley! That's where +your paw started that irrigation scheme; ain't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied Bud. "It was only a waste bit of land before dad ran +the water through the tunnel-flume from Pocut River, but now it grows +the best grass you ever rolled your bed in. And the steers—you ought +to see 'em, Billee!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm aimin' to, right soon," responded the old man. "Your paw +was sayin' suthin' about putting me over there, but I didn't pay much +attention to it. So you and the eastern lads are going to camp in +Flume Valley, be you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, because, being an experiment, dad didn't want to build any ranch +houses there yet. But if we make good on the deal, and can raise +steers on the grass that's grown since the water was let in, why, I'm +to have it for my own ranch, when I come of age, and Dick and Nort will +be my partners. We'll call it Diamond X Second." +</P> + +<P> +"Good name! Mighty good name! Look out there, you old piece of bacon +fat!" he called sharply to his animal, pulling the pony quickly up as +it stumbled. "There aren't any prairie dog holes here for you t' go +puttin' your foot in! What's the matter of yo'?" +</P> + +<P> +But though Old Billee and Bud spoke thus in seeming harshness to their +horses, there was no unkindness in their treatment of the animals. It +was just their picturesque, western manner of talking, and hardly had +the echo of Old Billee's words died away on the hot, dusty air than he +was gently patting the neck of the pony he rode. +</P> + +<P> +"Did dad say you were to help me over in Flume Valley?" asked Bud, as +he slowed down the pace of his animal to keep alongside that of the +older cowboy. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, he said I was to be your helper. And first I sorter hated to +leave Babe, Slim, Snake and the rest of the bunch. But if you say your +cousins are coming out, and if we can raise better cattle there than on +the home ranch, why, mebby it won't be so worse." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course it won't!" cried Bud. "Why, even in the short time the +steers have been in Flume Valley, Billee, they've improved." +</P> + +<P> +"You say there's stock there now?" asked the old man, for he was +gray-haired, "Well, if they've been thrivin' by themselves so far, +what's the good of you an' your cousins campin' there to watch 'em eat?" +</P> + +<P> +"Lots of reasons," answered Bud, as he and his companion started up a +hill, on the other side of which they would reach the water-hole, where +the main trail from Diamond X came in. "For one thing this is +something new, and dad wants it watched carefully. Then, too, the +water pipe and reservoir will need looking after. But, more than +anything else, it's Del Pinzo and his gang of rustlers." +</P> + +<P> +"Those scoundrels didn't get what they deserved for tryin' to run off +our stock last year!" complained Billee. "Now they're raisin' ructions +again; be they?" +</P> + +<P> +"They sure are!" declared Bud. "It wasn't that they didn't get what +they deserved, for they were sentenced to long terms. But the trouble +was they didn't stay in jail where they were put." +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon they look at it just the other way!" chuckled Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Bud. "But it's going to make trouble for dad and all the +other cattle raisers around here having that bunch of Mexicans and +Greasers loose. That's one reason why we've got to watch out at Flume +Valley, where we're going to try to raise some cattle that will beat +those at Diamond X. I'm glad you're going to be with me, Billee." +</P> + +<P> +"Hum! You don't care what sort of trouble th' old man gits into; do +you, Bud?" and he smiled a toothless smile at his employer's son. +"Well, it's all in th' day's work, I reckon. But I'm not expected t' +come with you to-night; am I? Slim said I was to report t' him at the +main buildin's." +</P> + +<P> +"No, you don't have to come right away," replied Bud. "I'm to meet +Dick and Nort at the water-hole—they were due at our ranch this +morning—and you're to come when you can." +</P> + +<P> +"Might as well be quick as sooner," laughed the old cowboy. "I don't +take much to new-fangled notions. But orders is orders, I reckon." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, there isn't so much new at Flume Valley," said Bud. "All it ever +needed to make one of the best places in this part of the country for +raising cattle was water. Now, since dad had the big pipe flume put in +from Pocut River, where it can fill the reservoir and water the grass +and the cattle at the same time, things are going to boom!" +</P> + +<P> +"They are to hear you tell 'em!" chuckled Billee. "Well, I wish you +all good luck, Bud, I'll help all I can. I'll be over to-night, if I +can make it, though it's some of a ride after a day's work." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I won't expect you," said Bud. "I've got everything all laid out +for the camp there. Nort and Dick will be with me, but we'll be on the +lookout for you to-morrow. Bring what things you need, and some grub. +And if my mother has any pies baked, just pack a few of them." +</P> + +<P> +"Only a <I>few</I>?" asked Billee, with a grin. +</P> + +<P> +"As many as Nell will let you take," laughed Bud. "But there's Nort +and Dick! Whoop! Oh, boy! Come a-runnin'!" and the young rancher +beat a tattoo with his heels on the sides of his steed, and raced down +the slope toward two other lads who, like himself, were attired in +conventional western costume. Old Billee pulled his steed to a halt +and watched the greetings. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a great thing to be young!" sighed the old man. "The greatest +thing in the world! But maybe I can do something yet! Only I don't +like that black jack—I shore don't! Never heard of anythin' but bad +luck followin' one of them nimble cusses! I don't like it for a cent!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, here we are!" cried Nort Shannon, flinging his broad-brimmed hat +into the air, and catching it on the end of his .45 before the +headpiece could touch the ground. +</P> + +<P> +"Came right on time, too! Zip Foster couldn't 'a' made it better!" +joyously declared Bud, clapping his palm into that of Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Haven't you run him off the ranch yet?" asked the other lad, who was +rather short and stout, not to say fat. +</P> + +<P> +"Run who off?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Zip Foster!" repeated Dick. "Last I heard of him——" +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind <I>him</I>!" and Bud seemed somewhat annoyed at having mentioned +the name. "Oh, but I'm glad you fellows are here! Have a good trip? +Are you hungry? Did you have grub enough? Can you ride right out now? +How's everybody at my house?" +</P> + +<P> +Nort looked at his western cousin, and then, with a deliberate motion +pretended to mop his face free of some imaginary perspiration, brought +out by the rapid-fire questions on his cousin's part. +</P> + +<P> +"Say! Go a bit easy, will you, Bud?" he begged. "One at a time! Line +forms on this side!" +</P> + +<P> +"We're going right out with you, and everybody's fine!" answered Dick, +summing up matters. "Your father said we were to ride out and meet you +here at the water-hole. We've got as much of our outfits as we'll need +for a few days, and so let's mosey along. Oh, but it's great to be +back out west!"' +</P> + +<P> +"You got off a ripe one that time!" agreed Nort. "Who's that up +there?" he asked, pointing to the figure of a solitary horseman on the +hill down which Bud had ridden. +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like Yellin' Kid," commented Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Old Billee," answered Bud. "He's going to be with us out at +Flume Valley. Did dad tell you of the new venture?" he asked his +cousins. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and it sounds good. Must have been quite a trick to bring water +from Pocut River, Bud." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it would have been if Professor Wright hadn't showed dad how to +use an old underground water course for part of the way. Then it was +easy. And say—you ought to see what a difference water has made in +that valley! It was almost a desert before we irrigated." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm anxious to see it!" said Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"We can't get there any too soon to suit me," added Dick. "Just think! +We're going to be our own bosses—boy ranchers for fair!" +</P> + +<P> +"You intimated plenty that time!" cried Bud. "Well, let's hit the +trail!" +</P> + +<P> +The three boy ranchers started off, Nort and Dick accompanying Bud back +over the way the latter had come. As they rode up the hill Old Billee +passed on down another trail, leading to Diamond X proper. +</P> + +<P> +"Howdy, boys!" called the old cowboy from the distance to Nort and +Dick. "See you a bit later over at your own ranch!" he added, and +then, with a friendly wave of his hand, he went down into a little +swale, or valley, and was lost to sight. +</P> + +<P> +"Now for some good times!" cried Bud, as he rode between his two +eastern cousins, who had again come to spend the summer with him in the +great western outdoors. +</P> + +<P> +"If it's anything like last year we sure will have a bang-up vacation!" +declared Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I can't promise anything like that—with cattle rustling and +digging up animals ten million years old," laughed Bud. "But I think +we might have a little excitement." +</P> + +<P> +"How?" asked Nort and Dick eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell you later," promised Bud. +</P> + +<P> +They rode on, talking over old times and planning new ones, and as the +shadows began to lengthen they rode down into a triangular valley, at +one end of which a rude dam could be noticed, while, scattered over the +green carpeted floor, were hundreds of grazing cattle. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, this is some slick place!" cried Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"The best ever!" affirmed Nort. "And is this where we are to camp and +ranch it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Right here," declared Bud. "Course we haven't any ranch house yet. +But we've got a tent—there it is," and he pointed to a white canvas +shelter not far from the dam. +</P> + +<P> +"A tent! Oh, boy! better and better!" yelled Dick, as he urged his +pony forward. +</P> + +<P> +As the three boy ranchers neared their headquarters, represented by two +or three tents grouped together, there emerged from among them the +figure of a man on horseback. +</P> + +<P> +"There's old Buck Tooth," said Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Who?" asked the eastern cousins. +</P> + +<P> +"Buck Tooth—a Zuni Indian that dad picked up somewhere. He's one of +the best herd-riders you'd want, and he and I are great friends. +Wonder what's the matter, though? He acts as though something had +happened." +</P> + +<P> +Bud pulled rein, to allow a better observation of the figure that was, +obviously, riding out to meet him. Nort and Dick also halted their +ponies. But Buck Tooth rode to meet them at great speed, sitting in +the saddle as though part of it and the horse. He rode in a manner +that made Nort and Dick envy him. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter, Buck?" asked Bud, as soon as the Indian was within +hailing distance. And then Nort and Dick could see why he was called +that. A large, yellow-stained tooth protruded from his mouth, giving +him not exactly a pleasant expression. +</P> + +<P> +"What's wrong, Buck, you ride so <I>pronto</I> like?" demanded the young +western ranch boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Heap wrong!" came the answer in guttural tones. "You no shut off +water in pipe; eh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shut off the irrigation water? I should say not!" cried Bud. "Why, +has anyone?" +</P> + +<P> +"Water no come! All gone! No run splash-splash now!" and Buck Tooth +waved his hand toward the reservoir made by a dam that curved out in a +half circle from the wall of natural rock. +</P> + +<P> +"The water gone!" cried Bud. "This is strange! Let's have a look!" +</P> + +<P> +He and his cousins rode at top speed to the reservoir that had +reclaimed Flume Valley from the semi-desert it had long been. +Dismounting, they climbed the slope and saw that from the great iron +pipe, which was wont to spout a sparkling stream, there came only a few +drops and trickles. +</P> + +<P> +"It's disappeared!" said Bud in a low voice. "The water has taken +another course! This means the end of Flume Valley, I reckon!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A NIGHT RIDE +</H3> + +<P> +The boy ranchers stood looking down into the reservoir, which was +almost full of water, but which was slowly running out through the +different gates, some to concrete drinking troughs where thirsty cattle +congregated, and some to distant meadows where it supplied moisture for +the grass on which the steers of Diamond X Second fed. From the +slightly ruffled surface of the reservoir, as the evening wind blew +across the water, the gazes of Bud, Nort and Dick sought the faces of +one another. +</P> + +<P> +"This looks had!" murmured Bud, while Buck Tooth, the Zuni Indian, +grunted something in his own incomprehensible dialect. +</P> + +<P> +"What does it mean?" asked Nort, as he looked down the slope from the +reservoir to the group of tents that was to form the home of himself, +his brother and cousin for several months, while they were in camp. +</P> + +<P> +"It means the water supply, on which I depended to raise these steers, +has petered out," answered Bud, and there was a worried note in his +voice. +</P> + +<P> +"You mean stopped for good?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope not," went on Bud. "But from what you can see—no water coming +through the pipe line that dad laid to the Pocut River—I should say +there was a break in it somewhere, and it will have to be fixed right +away—that is, if I'm to keep these cattle here," and he looked down +the valley where the bunches of steers were ever on the move, seeking +new places to feed, or coming to drink water from the supply flowing +out of the reservoir. +</P> + +<P> +"We seem to have struck a job right off the bat!" remarked Dick, as he +picked up a stone and tossed it into the reservoir. +</P> + +<P> +"Just as we did when we came west before, and had to jump out and help +the queer professors," added Nort. "But we're ready to go to work, +Bud. All you'll have to do is say the word and——" +</P> + +<P> +But Bud did not seem to be paying much attention to what his cousin was +saying. Instead his gaze followed that of his Zuni Indian helper. +Buck Tooth was looking off up the hill under which the big pipe ran to +the distant Pocut River on the other side of the mountain. And as Bud +and Buck Tooth looked, and as the gaze of Nort and Dick was bent in the +same direction, they all beheld a figure on the back of a fast-moving +pony, riding up the trail that led over Snake Mountain. +</P> + +<P> +"Who's that, Buck? See him!" yelled Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"No can tell. Old Billee, mebby!" grunted the Indian. +</P> + +<P> +"No! Old Billee just left me! He's back at the ranch house. But +that's a stranger, and I don't like strangers sneaking around my +ranch—especially when there's a break just happened to my pipe line!" +exclaimed Bud. "I'm going to look into this!"' +</P> + +<P> +"Hi there! Hold on a minute! I want to talk to you!" he yelled, +making a megaphone of his hands and directing it at the figure on the +back of the sturdy pony that was scrambling up the mountain trail. +"Wait a minute!" +</P> + +<P> +But this the stranger seemed unwilling to do. The watching group near +the reservoir saw him raise his quirt, or short whip, and bring it down +savagely on the back of the pony, which, already, was doing its best to +carry its master out of distance. +</P> + +<P> +Then, with a quick motion, Bud drew his .45, and though both Nort and +Dick saw him aim it high above the man's head, in order to shoot over +him, horse and rider went down in a tumbled heap at the sound of the +report, which followed as Bud pulled the trigger. +</P> + +<P> +"You've winged him!" cried Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Shucks! Didn't mean to hit him—just shot to scare him!" declared +Bud. "But we'll have to see about it now! Come on!" he cried, and he +ran down the side of the reservoir to where he had left Sock, his pony, +followed by Dick and Nort who also headed for their steeds. +</P> + +<P> +"Hu!" grunted the Indian, as he came on down more leisurely. "No +water—man shot—new boys come—big time, mebby! Hu!" +</P> + +<P> +And Buck Tooth was more than right. Big times impended in Flume Valley. +</P> + +<P> +While Bud Merkel and his two cousins who had arrived from the east only +the day before were mounting their ponies, to ride up the side of Snake +Mountain, and seek the man Bud had shot, I shall have a chance to tell +my new readers something about the boy ranchers, and the volume that +immediately precedes this one. +</P> + +<P> +The book is entitled "The Boy Ranchers; or Solving the Mystery at +Diamond X." Norton, or Nort, and Dick, or Richard, Shannon were sons +of Mr. and Mrs. Thornton Shannon, and their home was in the cast. When +Mr. Shannon, the summer previous, had been obliged to make a trip to +South America, with his wife, he sent his sons to spend their vacation +at Diamond X, one of the western cattle ranches owned by Henry Merkel, +Mrs. Shannon's brother. +</P> + +<P> +Almost immediately on their arrival Nort and Dick, who were then +rightly classed as "tenderfeet," became involved in a strange mystery. +A call for help came, and they took part in the rescue of two college +professors who had been attacked by a band of Mexicans and "Greasers," +the latter being a low-class Mexican. +</P> + +<P> +The professors were rescued, but the mystery only deepened. What it +was, and how it came to be solved, you will find set down at length in +the first volume. Sufficient to say, here, that Nort and Dick, as it +were, "cut their eye teeth," during the exciting experiences that +followed their arrival at Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +The eastern boys learned how properly to ride a pony cowboy fashion, +they learned the use of the branding iron, the lariat and "gun," as the +.45 revolvers were universally called. They learned, also, how to +"ride herd," "ride line" and how to live in the open, with the prairie +grass for a bed and the star-studded sky for a blanket, their saddle +forming the pillow. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Merkel, Bud's father, owned several ranches besides Diamond X, so +named because that brand was used on the cattle from it. He had Square +M, and Triangle B, the explanation of which names are obvious. +</P> + +<P> +When it came time for Nort and Dick to return east, as winter +approached, they left, promising to return as soon as their summer +vacation should arrive, for they were determined to become boy ranchers +in earnest, an ambition in which Bud shared. +</P> + +<P> +Now it was summer again, and Nort and Dick had once more journeyed to +their uncle's ranch, to be met by Bud, as arranged, at the water-hole. +For between the two visits of the easterners some changes had been made +at Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +Bud had been clamoring to be allowed to raise some cattle "on his own," +and his father had consented. Off to the north of Diamond X, and in a +depression between the Snake Mountains on the east and Buffalo Ridge on +the west, was another valley, well sheltered from the wintry blasts. +This valley was owned by Mr. Merkel, and though part of it was +timbered, and some scattered sections produced an excellent variety of +grass for stock, there was no dependable source of drinking water +available. And without water at hand it is impossible to raise cattle +in the west—or any place else, for that matter. +</P> + +<P> +How to get water to "Flume Valley," as it came to be called, was a +problem. It would have been put to use raising cattle long before this +had Mr. Merkel been able to get any water there for the animals to +drink, and also some to irrigate the more arid portions so that fodder +would grow. +</P> + +<P> +At the foot of the eastern slope of Snake Mountains ran the Pocut +River, which served to supply not only Diamond X, Square M and Triangle +B ranches with water, but also those of Double Z and Circle T, the +respective holdings of Hank Fisher and Thomas Ogden. But though Pocut +River gave plenty of water to Bud's father and the other ranchmen, none +was available for the isolated valley which, except for this, would +have been an ideal place to raise steers. +</P> + +<P> +And it was here that the good services of Professor Wright, one of the +scientists mentioned in the first volume, came into play. For +Professor Wright discovered an ancient underground water course, +connecting with Pocut River, and when this had been partly tunneled, +re-opened at places where it had caved in, and a big iron pipe laid +part of the way, water came gushing out into Flume Valley, as Bud +renamed the place, it having been called Buffalo Wallow before that +time; probably when there was water in it and the buffalo made it a +rendezvous. +</P> + +<P> +And when the water came through the iron pipe, falling into the +reservoir that had been built to hold it in reserve, Bud was allowed to +begin his experiment in stock raising. +</P> + +<P> +His father provided him with the cattle, and Bud was a boy rancher in +reality now. His cousins had agreed to help him in the venture on +their arrival, and Bud had been expecting them when he rode out with +Old Billee that day. Old Billee was one of the Diamond X cowboys, and +he might have been made a foreman, except that he had no executive +ability. He could do as he was told, and that was about all. He was +reliable and dependable, but had no initiative for big undertakings. +Old Billee, with Buck Tooth and some other cowboys, had been assigned +to help Bud in his venture. +</P> + +<P> +As Bud has told his cousins, when he rode to meet them at the +water-hole, on the trail from Diamond S ranch, there was no time, yet, +to construct ranch houses in Flume Valley. Tents would have to serve +the purpose, and the boys were rather pleased, than otherwise, with +this. +</P> + +<P> +"It will be just like camp!" said Bud. +</P> + +<P> +And so the easterners had arrived, and, almost with the moment of their +coming, there had begun the first act in what was to prove a drama of +almost tragic happenings. +</P> + +<P> +"You stay at the camp, Buck!" called Bud to the Zuni, as the three boy +ranchers mounted and prepared to ride up to where the unknown man had +collapsed after Bud had fired. "You stick around! Old Billee, or some +of the boys from Diamond X may ride over, though I don't expect them +until morning. Stay here, Buck!" +</P> + +<P> +"Me stick!" gutturally answered the Indian. "You catchum man +mebby—git back water." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe," agreed Bud, as he and his cousins trotted off up the trail, +which wound around the reservoir and over the mountain. +</P> + +<P> +Dusk was falling as the boys reached the vicinity of the place whence +they had seen the lone rider emerge from the bushes, spurring his horse +up the rocky trail that led over Snake Mountain, as the whole ridge was +known. +</P> + +<P> +"Must have been about here," said Dick, as he reined in his steed, for +which the panting animal, doubtless, was grateful. +</P> + +<P> +"Little farther on, I think," said his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"No, it was right here," declared Bud, as he dismounted and began to +scan the ground. "Here's where his horse slipped," and he pointed to +the tell-tale marks on the trail. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and look—you hit him all right!" added Dick. +</P> + +<P> +He indicated some dull, red spots on the stones. Bud reached down and +gingerly touched them. +</P> + +<P> +"Blood!" he murmured. "Guess I did wing him—or the horse—but I don't +see how I could. I fired high." +</P> + +<P> +"But where did he go?" asked Nort, following the marks left by a horse +that had, obviously, been hard pressed. "See, the sign goes right up +to this rocky wall, and then stops. He couldn't have gotten up there, +could he?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not unless he wore wings," said Bud grimly. "But it's getting too +dark to see well. We'd better be getting back to camp." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought you were going to follow this up, and see what had happened +to your pipe line," suggested Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"I am, but we can't ride on without some grub. No telling what we may +stack up against. We'll have to make a night ride of it, I'm thinking, +and I'd like to have Buck Tooth along. He's a shark on following a +blind trail. Come on, we'll go back to camp, get some grub and then +take this up again. I hope I didn't kill him, though," murmured Bud, +as he again leaped to the saddle, an example followed by Nort and Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Who was he?" asked the latter, puffing slightly from his exertions, +for he was much stouter than his brother Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Search me!" replied Bud. "Looked mighty suspicious, though, the way +he rode off. And if he wasn't up to something wrong he'd 'a' stopped +when I hailed him." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think he had anything to do with the break in the pipe?" asked +Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"You've got me again," confessed his western cousin. "We'll have to +make a night ride of it and find out." +</P> + +<P> +They rode back to the camp tents, to find Buck Tooth calmly smoking his +red-stone Indian pipe, and gazing off in the darkening distance at +nothing at all, as far as the boys could determine. +</P> + +<P> +"Anybody been around, Buck?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Nope!" was the answer. "You catchum dead man?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not a sign, Buck! Beckon he must have dug a hole and pulled it in +after him. But we've got to find out what's the matter with the pipe +line. There's only a few days' supply of water in the reservoir. +Rustle out some grub, and we'll ride over the mountain." +</P> + +<P> +"Um," grunted the Zuni, and a little later, after a hasty meal of +flapjacks, bacon and coffee, the boy ranchers, with the old Zuni +Indian, started on a night ride over the mountain trail, in the general +direction of the pipe line, the supply of fluid for which had so +mysteriously stopped. +</P> + +<P> +But strange events were only just beginning to happen in Flume Valley. +There were others in store for the boy ranchers. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WARNING +</H3> + +<P> +"Will it be safe to leave our camp alone, like this?" asked Nort, as he +and his companions rode off, leaving behind them the white tents, +gleaming in the wondrous light of a full moon. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" inquired Bud. "It won't walk away." +</P> + +<P> +"No, but some one might come in and take everything." +</P> + +<P> +"There isn't much worth taking. You brought your old stuff with you, +we have our ponies, so all they could snibby would be the camp dishes, +and they aren't worth the risk." +</P> + +<P> +"Could they drive off any of your cattle?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you say <I>our</I> cattle?" asked Bud with a smile, which was +plainly to be seen in the brilliant moonlight. "You fellows are in +this venture with me, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"We haven't yet gotten used to thinking of it that way," remarked Nort, +as he rode beside Buck Tooth. The old Zuni Indian managed to keep pace +beside the boys without ever urging his pony forward, a trick of riding +which even Bud envied. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you'd <I>better</I> get used to it," was the laughing retort. "Your +dad staked you to part of the expenses of this deal, same as mine did +me, and of course you'll share in the profits—if there are any," Bud +added rather dubiously. "And if we don't get that water back there +won't be enough to make you need a hat to carry 'em off." +</P> + +<P> +"As bad as that?" inquired Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm not saying it's bad—<I>yet</I>!" exclaimed Bud. "There may be +just a stoppage in the pipe, which can easily be cleaned out. Or, it +may be—something else." +</P> + +<P> +But what else it might be he did not say, and Nort and Dick were not +sufficiently familiar with irrigation and flume lines to hazard a +guess. But they knew enough about their cousin to tell that he was +worried. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you plan to do?" asked Dick, as the four rode on, their ponies +occasionally stumbling as they mounted the rocky trail that led over +Snake Mountain. "Look for that man—the one you——" +</P> + +<P> +"The one I <I>didn't</I> shoot!" interrupted Bud. "I'm as sure I didn't hit +him as I am that we four are here this minute. I know I fired too +high!" +</P> + +<P> +"Unless the bullet hit a rock and glanced down," suggested Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, yes, that may have happened," admitted Bud. "But if he was +badly hurt he couldn't get away, as he did." +</P> + +<P> +"Could he have fallen into any hole or gully?" asked Dick. "We didn't +look for that." +</P> + +<P> +"He might have," admitted the western lad. "But what I'm looking for, +now, isn't that fellow, who may or may not be shot, but for the break +in my flume—that's what I want to locate. Once I get the water so +it's running back in my reservoir I'll feel better. For if there's a +permanent shut-off we might as well move out of Flume Valley," he went +on. "The cattle would just naturally die of thirst!" +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't there any water at all?" asked Nort, as he pulled his pony up +sharply when the animal stumbled. +</P> + +<P> +"Not enough to water all the stock I aim to raise," answered Bud. "At +the far end of the valley—away from our camp—the grass grows pretty +well, for some rain does fall there once in a while. But there isn't a +water-hole worth the name, and you know what happens to cattle when +they can't get a drink!" +</P> + +<P> +"I should say so!" commented Nort, for he and his brother had seen some +of the terrible suffering caused by animals having to be driven long +distances without any water being available. "Then the pipe line is +your only hope?" +</P> + +<P> +"That, and the ancient underground watercourse it connects with to +bring water from the Pocut River," replied Bud. "You see, there's a +sort of natural tunnel under the mountain, and this was once an old +river bed. I suppose, or at least Professor Wright has told us, that +once this tunnel was full-up with water. But there was a change in the +direction of the old stream, and the water tunnel dried up. However, +it didn't cave in, except in a few places, and we now use it to bring +water to Flume Valley. There is really only a comparatively short +length of pipe at either end, one end being where the water from the +Pocut River enters, and the other where the pipe delivers the water to +our reservoir." +</P> + +<P> +"How are you going to find the break?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Or stoppage?" suggested Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I aim to ride over the mountain tonight," answered Bud, "and see +if all is clear at the river intake end of the line. If it is, I'll +know there must be a stoppage, or break, somewhere inside the old water +tunnel." +</P> + +<P> +"How you going to find that?" inquired Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, we'll get lanterns and ride through," replied Bud. "That's easy!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ride through an underground river!" cried Dick. "You can't!" +</P> + +<P> +"No, we couldn't if the old underground river course was <I>full</I>," +agreed Bud, "but it <I>isn't</I>. There's only a comparatively small amount +of water flowing through the old course, which is wide enough for two +of us to ride or walk abreast, and twice as high as you need. I've +ridden through more than once. It's like a long, natural tunnel under +the mountain, with water flowing in the center depression, so to speak." +</P> + +<P> +"Must be rather spooky inside there," suggested Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a little; and it's nearly an all-day's ride. But it's the only +way to find the trouble. Professor Wright said that some day the water +might work through, and go off on a new course, and in that case I'd be +dished until I could stop up the break." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we'll help all we can," offered Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure thing!" echoed his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"We'd better take it a bit easy now," spoke Bud, as the ascent of the +mountain became more steep. "We don't want to wind the ponies, and we +may have a hard day ahead of us to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"It <I>is</I> quite a climb," admitted Nort. "Are we going to ride all +night?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, we'll turn in about midnight," said Bud. "But this will give us a +start so we can get to the Pocut River end of the flume by morning. We +can stop any time you fellows want to." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we aren't tired!" Dick hastened to say, a sentiment with which his +brother agreed. "This is as much fun as riding herd, and driving off +the cattle rustlers." +</P> + +<P> +"Glad you like it," commented Bud. "And the rustlers might as well +drive off our stock, if we don't soon get this water to running again. +Old Billee said I'd have bad luck when that black rabbit crossed my +path, and it sure is coming!" +</P> + +<P> +"What black rabbit was that?" asked Nort, curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"One that gave me a tumble when I was riding to meet you," answered +Bud. "I never saw one before, and I don't want to again. Not that I'm +superstitious, but there sure is something queer about <I>this</I>! I don't +like it for a cent!" +</P> + +<P> +The boy ranchers and the Zuni Indian rode on, mounting higher and +higher along the mountain trail, heading for the summit. And when they +reached it, and Bud, by a glance at his watch, announced that it was +midnight, he followed with the suggestion that they camp there for the +remainder of the night. +</P> + +<P> +"We can make the rest of the trip in a couple of hours, for it's down +hill," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Camp suits me," murmured Nort, and soon, after a bite to eat, they +rolled themselves in their blankets, having tied the ponies to scrub +bushes, and went to sleep. The riding of the boys, coupled with the +pure air they had breathed, brought them slumber almost at once, and +even Buck Tooth, alert as he usually was, neither saw nor heard +anything of the sinister visitor who came softly upon the sleeping ones +during the night hours. +</P> + +<P> +For there did come a visitor in the night, as evidenced by a scrawled +warning, on a dirty piece of paper, fastened to a stubby tree by a +long, sharp thorn. +</P> + +<P> +It was this fluttering bit of paper that caught Dick's eye when he +awakened, rather lame and stiff, and stretched himself in his blanket +as the sun shone in his eyes next morning. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello!" he cried, taking a hasty look around to see if Bud had, +perchance, ridden away without awakening his companions, and had left +this note to tell them so. "What's the idea?" and then Dick noticed +that all three of his companions were stretched out near him, and the +four ponies were standing together not far away. +</P> + +<P> +"What idea?" asked Bud, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"That special delivery letter," and Dick pointed to it. "Wasn't here +last night," he went on, "for I tied Blackie to that tree before I +staked him out. What is it?" +</P> + +<P> +Bud rolled out of his blanket, and took the piece of paper from the +tree. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a warning!" he announced. +</P> + +<P> +"A warning?" cried Nort and Dick, while Buck Tooth began making a fire. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," went on the boy rancher. "Here's what it says: +</P> + +<P> +"'Don't take no more watter frum Pocut River if you want to stay +healthy!'" +</P> + +<P> +"Whew!" whistled Dick. "What does that mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Just what I'd like to know," said Bud, and then all three boys +started, and looked toward the upward slope of the mountain, down which +they had partly descended. For there came rolling toward them a mass +of dirt and stones, indicating the approach of some one. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A STRANGE REAPPEARANCE +</H3> + +<P> +Characteristic it was of Bud Merkel, being a son of the west as he was, +that his hand instinctively sought the leather holster whence protruded +the grim, black handle of his .45. But he did not draw the weapon, nor +did Nort or Dick pull theirs, which they had started to get out when +they noted Bud's action. +</P> + +<P> +For Bud smiled when he had a glimpse of the newcomer, and Buck Tooth, +who had glanced up from where he was making the fire, gave a grunt of +welcome. +</P> + +<P> +"Babe!" exclaimed Nort, as he recognized the fat assistant foreman of +Diamond X ranch. "Babe!" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure! Who'd you think it was?" came the smiling question. "Looks +like you had an idea it might be one of them rustlers that made trouble +when you fellers was here before! Eh? +</P> + +<P> +"Glad t' see you two <I>ex</I>-tenderfeet," and Babe Milton grinned broadly +as he accented the <I>ex</I>, and held out a welcoming hand to Nort and +Dick. "They said you was comin' back to Diamond X, but I sorter missed +you—been out tryin' t' locate a bunch of strays," he confided to Bud, +"an' I didn't have no luck! Glad to meet yo' all, though, powerful +glad! 'Specially on account of that there coffee!" and he sniffed the +air as he caught the aroma of the fragrant pot Buck Tooth was putting +on to boil. +</P> + +<P> +"But what are you lads doing so far from Diamond X?" Babe went on, when +they had moved over to the camp fire, the blaze of which was genially +warm this cool morning on the mountain. +</P> + +<P> +"We aren't stopping there this trip," said Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"We're 'on our own,'" proceeded Bud. "I'm raising cattle in the old +Buffalo Wallow Valley—Flume I call it now." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, I did hear you were going to tackle that," spoke Babe. +"Didn't know you'd got stocked up, though. Well, I've been over at +Square M for so long I don't hear no real news no more. Gosh! But we +did have some excitement the time those professor chaps pulled that +<I>Trombone</I> out of the ground; didn't we, Bud?" he chuckled. +</P> + +<P> +"Triceratops, Babe! Triceratops!" corrected Bud, laughing at the +expression of the fat assistant foreman's face. +</P> + +<P> +"I never could remember the name of them musical pieces, nohow!" sighed +Babe. "Fond as I am, too, of singing," and, taking a long breath, he +bellowed forth on the unoffensive morning air this portion of a ballad: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Sing me to sleep with a spur for a rattle,<BR> +Fill up the biscuits with lead.<BR> +Coil me a rope 'round th' ole weepin' willow,<BR> +Curl my feet under my head!"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Glad you feel that way about it," remarked Bud, rather soberly, as +they squatted around the fire for breakfast, which Buck Tooth seemed to +have prepared in record time. +</P> + +<P> +"What's bit you?" asked Babe, pausing with a smoking flapjack half way +to his mouth, while in his other hand he held a steaming tin cup of +coffee. "Git out th' wrong side of th' saddle this mornin'?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, but there's trouble over at the valley," explained Bud. "The +water has stopped running and——" +</P> + +<P> +"The <I>water</I> stopped running!" interrupted Babe. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and when we start out, intending to see what's the trouble, we +get this warning," and Bud extended the dirty piece of paper that had +been fastened to the tree with the thorn. +</P> + +<P> +"Whew-ee-ee!" whistled Babe, as he read the scrawl of misspelled words. +He opened his mouth again, to intone another of the hundred or more +verses of his favorite cowboy song, but Bud motioned to him to refrain. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you like my singin'?" asked Babe, a bit hurt. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but I want to ask you some questions," went on Bud. "You say +you've been out looking for strays?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yep; prospectin' up and down Snake Mountain all yist'day an' part of +th' night. My grub giv' out with supper last night, an' I was hopin' I +might even run into a bunch of Greasers, when I saw you folks spreadin' +th' banquet table here." +</P> + +<P> +"Glad you joined us," remarked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"So'm I," mumbled Babe, his mouth full of bacon and flapjacks. "But +what's your questions, Bud? Shoot!" +</P> + +<P> +"Did you see anybody who might have written this?" and the boy rancher +again read the sinister warning: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"'Don't take no more watter frum Pocut River if you want to stay +healthy.'" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Why, no, I didn't see nobody," spoke Babe, with more force than +grammar. "'Tain't a joke; is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not when I tell you the water has stopped running," said Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"So you did! Hum, that's mighty queer like!" mused the assistant +foreman, who had, early in the spring, been transferred to Mr. Merkel's +Square M ranch from Diamond X. "But some of us rather thought there'd +be trouble when your paw dammed up the river to shunt some of it +through the old water course over to Buffalo Wallow. Hank Fisher +claims his water supply has been lessened by what your paw did, Bud." +</P> + +<P> +"That's all bosh!" exclaimed Bud. "There's as much water for Hank +Fisher as he ever had at Double Z. Besides, this isn't his way of +doing business. He's as mean as they make 'em, but he'll come out in +the open and tell you what he thinks of you." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Hank is that way—<I>sometimes</I>," agreed Babe cautiously. "At th' +same time I wouldn't put it past him. Better tell your paw about this, +Bud. You got grit—all three of you!" and he included the other boys +in his glance. "But you can't fight Hank Fisher, Del Pinzo and that +onery gang of Greasers and Mexicans!" +</P> + +<P> +"There!" cried Nort, clapping his hand down on his outstretched leg. +"That's who that man was—Del Pinzo!" +</P> + +<P> +"What man?" asked Babe. +</P> + +<P> +"The one Bud shot." +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" cried Babe, half starting to his feet. "Did you shoot +somebody?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I may have <I>creased</I> him," admitted the boy, using a word to +denote a grazing bullet wound, hardly more than a scratch. +</P> + +<P> +"Whew-ee-ee!" whistled Babe again. "This sounds like old times! Let's +have the hull yarn, Buddy!" he appealed. +</P> + +<P> +Whereupon Bud related how he had ridden from his new ranch—Diamond X +Second—to meet his cousins whom he expected. He told of finding the +stream of water shut off, of the appearance of the man, the shot, his +sudden vanishing, and the subsequent night ride of the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"That was Del Pinzo, I'm sure of it!" declared Nort. "I was trying to +think where I'd seen him before, and now I remember!" +</P> + +<P> +"You couldn't very well forget Del Pinzo," declared Bud. "But this +wasn't he. That isn't saying that it might not have been, of course," +he added, "for I understand he broke jail, after they caught him and +sent him up for rustling our cattle. No, this wasn't that slick +Mexican, Nort." +</P> + +<P> +"Who was it?" asked Babe, helping himself to another of the flapjacks +which Buck was making in a skillet over the greasewood fire. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what we don't know," said Bud. "He just naturally vanished, +the way my water did. What are you going to do, Babe?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I ought t' keep on lookin' for them strays your paw's so anxious +about," was the answer. "But I reckon I got time t' mosey along with +you. You say you're goin' down to the river?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, to see if there's anything wrong at the intake pipe," Bud +answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'll go with you," offered Babe. "And before you try that ride +through the old water course, under the mountain, you'd better call up +your paw." +</P> + +<P> +"What for?" Bud wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he mightn't altogether like it. There's a risk, an' he may want +t' send some of us with you. It's easy t' get him on the 'phone from +the dam." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Bud, "I s'pose I had better do that." He remembered that +where Pocut River had been dammed to enable water to flow into the pipe +line, and then through the old river course to his reservoir, there was +a general store, which boasted of a telephone. +</P> + +<P> +A little later, breakfast having been finished, the party, now +including Babe, reached the Pocut River. There an inspection showed +the water from the river above the dam running freely into the pipe +that carried it to Flume Valley. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing wrong here," remarked Bud as he looked into the dark tunnel +which received one end of the pipe. And it was through this natural +tunnel, extending under the mountain, being the course of an old +stream, that the boy ranchers proposed riding. +</P> + +<P> +"No, th' trouble must be somewhere inside," agreed Babe. "But call up +your paw, Bud." +</P> + +<P> +Which Bud did, learning from his father at Diamond X, that Old Billee +had departed, early that morning, to take up his abode at the camp in +the valley. +</P> + +<P> +"Better wait until Old Billee reaches your place, and then call him +up," suggested Mr. Merkel to his son over the wire, for there was a +'phone in Bud's camp. It seemed rather an incongruity, but it was a +great convenience, since it connected directly with Diamond X, Triangle +B and Square M ranches, as well as with the regular lines. +</P> + +<P> +There was nothing to do but wait until Old Billee might be expected to +have reached the camp in Flume Valley, and after several hours Bud +called up his own new ranch headquarters. +</P> + +<P> +"They don't answer," Central reported. +</P> + +<P> +"He's taking his time," commented Babe. +</P> + +<P> +But an hour or so later, after several other trials, the voice of Old +Billee came back over the wire from miles distant. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello! Hello there! Wassa matter? Wassa matter?" demanded the voice +of the old cowpuncher. "Where's everybody, anyhow? Nobody here but +me!" +</P> + +<P> +"We're over at the dam—Pocut River," called Bud into the instrument. +"Say, Billee, something happened at my place last night. The water +stopped, and we came over here to see where the stoppage was. But it's +all right here. How about you there?" +</P> + +<P> +"All serene here, Bud, all serene! Wait a minute and I'll take a look +at your reservoir. I can see it from the tent where you got this +talkin' contraption strung. You say the water stopped last night?" +</P> + +<P> +"Stopped complete, Billee," Bud answered back over the wire. +</P> + +<P> +"Well then, if there's any comin' over the spillway, now, it's a sign +she's runnin' here ag'in, I take it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure thing. But is she running?" asked Bud, anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a minute, an' I'll take a look. Hold on to that there wire!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll hold it!" promised Bud, smiling at his cousins. +</P> + +<P> +There was a moment of anxious waiting and, in fancy, the boy ranchers +could see Old Billee going to the tent flap and looking toward the +reservoir. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, Bud!" presently came the call over the wire. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, Billee. What about it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Water's there all right! Must 'a' come back in th' night! She's +runnin' fine now!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ANOTHER WARNING +</H3> + +<P> +Bud Merkel was about to hang up the receiver, with a blank and +uncomprehending look on his face, when Babe caught the black rubber +earpiece from him. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a minute, Billee!" called Babe into the transmitter. "See +anything of anybody around there? Anything suspicious?" +</P> + +<P> +The others could not hear what the old cowboy's answer was, but Babe +soon enlightened them. +</P> + +<P> +"He says it's all serene," Babe declared as he now hung up the +receiver. "Nobody in sight, an' the water is runnin' through the pipe +as natural as can be." +</P> + +<P> +"I can't understand it!" declared Bud. "It was almost as dry as a bone +when we left last night." +</P> + +<P> +"But it's running in here from the river dam," said Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Then there must have been a break somewhere in the tunnel natural +water course," declared Bud. "Well, if it mended itself so much the +better. But that doesn't explain this," and he held out the scrawled +warning. "And if the water stopped once it may stop again." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Babe, "but if anybody wanted to stop it they'd have to do +it either at this end, where the pipe takes water from the river, or at +your end, Bud, where it delivers water to your reservoir." +</P> + +<P> +"Unless somebody stopped the stream inside the tunnel," suggested Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Then it would back up here at the river end," said Nort, quickly, "and +it hasn't done that." +</P> + +<P> +"No, it hasn't," agreed Bud. "It sure is queer. I'm beginning to +think there may be more in that black rabbit than I believed first." +</P> + +<P> +"What rabbit is that?" asked Babe. +</P> + +<P> +"The one Old Billee said would bring me bad luck," Bud answered. +"Well," he went on to his cousins, "we might as well go back to camp. +We can't do anything here." +</P> + +<P> +"If you've got water that's all you want in Flume Valley," declared +Babe. "There isn't a finer place t' raise cattle in all th' world than +there—if you have <I>water</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +"And if you haven't—you might as well quit!" spoke Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"You eliminated an earful that time," the assistant foreman stated. +"But I reckon it was just a little break, inside th' tunnel, an' it +filled itself up natural like. You won't have any more trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope not," spoke the boy rancher. "Are you going on back to Diamond +X, Babe?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not until I find that bunch of strays from Square M. They're too +valuable t' let slip." +</P> + +<P> +"Especially to let Hank Fisher, or Del Pinzo, slip them away," +exclaimed Bud as he and his chums left the store where they had been +telephoning. +</P> + +<P> +"Not so loud! Not so loud!" cautioned Babe. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" Bud wanted to know, when they were outside. +</P> + +<P> +"'Cause one of Hank's men was in there! He'll be sure t' tell what you +said, Bud." +</P> + +<P> +"Let him! I'm not afraid of Hank, or his tool Del Pinzo, and I'd just +as soon either one would know what I think of 'em!" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be too brash; don't be too brash!" counseled Babe. "But they +sure are both bad actors—Del an' Hank!" +</P> + +<P> +There was nothing more that needed to, or could, be done at the Pocut +River end of the flume, part natural, part artificial, which supplied +Bud's new ranch with such a vital necessity as water. The stream had +been dammed just above the intake pipe—not completely dammed, but +enough to provide the necessary head of water. +</P> + +<P> +As Nort had said, had the stream been stopped purposely or by accident +inside the tunnel, the water would have backed up and run out around +the pipe, flowing into the river below the dam. But this had not +occurred. +</P> + +<P> +"If it doesn't happen again we'll be all right," spoke Bud, as he rode +back with his cousins, making an easy pace along the trail that led +over Snake Mountain and down into Flume Valley. "But if the water +stops running again——" +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go through the tunnel; it's the only way to be sure!" +interrupted Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm with you!" exclaimed Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"It would seem to be the only way," agreed Bud. "Well, we'll hope this +is the end of my black-rabbit bad luck, and look for success, now that +you fellows are here. Cracky! But we'll have some good times, and +there'll be plenty of work, too!" +</P> + +<P> +"How many cattle you got?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"About five hundred," Bud answered. "Course you have a share with me, +that your dad bought, but we don't own 'em outright yet. My dad still +has a mortgage on 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"But if we have luck we can clear that off; can't we?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure, this year, maybe," assented Bud. "I never saw steers fatten so +fast as ours have since I brought 'em to Flume Valley. I reckon the +land, being without water so long, raises a specially fine kind of +grass. Of course, there's always some at the far end of the valley, +good grass, too, but when there wasn't any water for the cattle to +drink there wasn't any use trying to raise stock there. But now it's +different." +</P> + +<P> +"And all we want is for the water to stay," added Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"That's all," chimed in his brother. +</P> + +<P> +With Buck Tooth trailing behind, the three boys took the mountain trail +and reached their camp near the reservoir that evening. They found Old +Billee and Yellin' Kid waiting for them, these two cowboys having been +assigned by Mr. Merkel to help his son in the lad's new venture. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, yo' got back, I see," remarked Old Billee as he greeted the +lads, the Indian going off by himself, for he was rather taciturn in +his manner. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we're here," admitted Bud. "But I can't understand that water +coming back so unexpectedly." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure it stopped running?" asked Yellin' Kid in his usual loud +voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure!" declared Bud. "Didn't Buck see it—or, rather, he didn't see +it, for there wasn't any water to see coming through the pipe—only a +few drops." +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't take his word," declared Old Billee. "Not that Buck would +actually lie, but those Indians are queer." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we all saw that the water wasn't running," declared Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it was when I got here," stated the old cowboy. "And there +wasn't a sign of anything wrong. But if there had been I'd expected +it, 'count of——" +</P> + +<P> +"That black rabbit, I reckon!" broke in Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Perzactly!" declared Old Billee. "A black jack shore is bad luck, at +any stage of the game!" +</P> + +<P> +But for a time there seemed to be no truth in this western omen. +Following the first mysterious disappearance of the water, and its +equally strange reappearance, peace seemed to settle down over Flume +Valley. +</P> + +<P> +The steers and yearlings, with which Bud's father had entrusted him and +the boy ranchers, thrived and fattened on the succulent grass. Old +Billee, Yellin' Kid, with Buck Tooth's help, aided the boys in such +minor duties as were necessary to perform about the camp. The main +duty was looking after the safety of the cattle, to see that none of +them strayed beyond the wire fence at the far end of the valley. +Should any stray from the other egress, nearest Diamond X ranch, no +great harm would result, as they would still be on their owner's land. +</P> + +<P> +But the farther, or north end, adjoined land owned by Hank Fisher, the +Double Z representative. And there were ugly stories current +concerning Mr. Fisher. +</P> + +<P> +But as the days passed, and as the water still flowed through the pipes +and underground tunnel into the reservoir, Bud and his companions began +to think they had imagined more troubles than were really to occur. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess that warning was only a bluff," said Bud, one day. +</P> + +<P> +"And the black rabbit doesn't seem to have given you the jinx," added +Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"But we didn't find that man you shot," put in Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe I shot him," declared Bud. "There was blood, sure +enough, but he may have stumbled, as, in fact, we saw him, and +scratched himself." +</P> + +<P> +"But where did he disappear to?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Give up," answered Bud. "We'll have to take another look after we get +our first shipment out of the way." +</P> + +<P> +For the first bunch of steers from the Flume Valley camp were to be +disposed of shortly. +</P> + +<P> +It was the day when this shipment was to be made that Bud, awakening +early in the tent where he slept with his cousins, uttered an +exclamation of surprise as he caught sight of something on the blanket +that covered him. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" asked Dick, sitting up. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you leave this here?" asked Bud, as he held up a piece of board, +evidently part of a packing case. +</P> + +<P> +"Me? No!" answered Dick. "What is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Either it's a joke, or it's the black rabbit getting in his work," +answered Bud. "It's from an unknown enemy—another warning!" +</P> + +<P> +And, as Bud held up the board, Nort and Dick could read, scrawled on +it, evidently with a fire-blackened stick, the words: +</P> + +<P> +"Warning No. 2. When will you quit?" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TROUBLE AT SQUARE M +</H3> + +<P> +"Guess that must be a joke," decided Nort, as he stepped gingerly from +his cot, for it was cold in the mornings, though hot enough at midday. +"Likely Old Billee or Yellin' Kid stuck it there," added the eastern +lad, as he looked at the scrawled warning. +</P> + +<P> +"Old Billee wouldn't do it," declared Bud. "He's gotten over his +joking days. But it might have been Yellin' Kid." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure!" agreed Dick. "Probably he did it to make what Billee said +about the black rabbit come true—to sort of scare you, Bud." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, of course that <I>might</I> have happened," admitted the western lad, +but from the tone of his voice, as he made a hasty toilet, his cousins +could tell he was far from being convinced. +</P> + +<P> +"You don't reckon it could be Buck Tooth, do you?" asked Dick, +following his cousin's example in attiring himself for the day's work. +</P> + +<P> +"What? That Zuni Indian? I should say not! His idea of a joke would +make your hair stand on end—or it would in his wild and younger days. +Now all he cares about, after he gets through riding herd, is to sit in +the sun and smoke his Mexican cigarettes. Buck Tooth doesn't joke." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe it was Yellin' Kid," suggested Nort. +</P> + +<P> +But when, a little later, they assembled in the meal tent, to partake +of breakfast, and Bud produced the scrawled board, Yellin' Kid was the +first to shake his head at the implied question. +</P> + +<P> +"I like fun!" he remarked in his loud, good-natured voice, "but I don't +play such jokes as this. My idea of fun would be to help dig up +another one of them queer, slidin'-trombone insects with the three +horns that the professor fellers discovered. But this—why, Bud, this +may be serious business!" +</P> + +<P> +"That black rabbit—I told you!" croaked Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you really think it means anything?" asked the boy rancher, while +his young partners in the new venture leaned eagerly forward to listen +to the answer. +</P> + +<P> +"I sure do," declared Yellin' Kid. "All of us have known, Bud, an' +your father among 'em, that puttin' a dam in Pocut River, an' taking +water for you here, at Flume Valley, made the Double Z outfit mad +enough t' rear up on their hind legs an' howl! Hank Fisher has +claimed, all along, that th' Diamond X outfit hadn't any right t' take +water from th' river, t' shunt over on th' other side of Snake +Mountain, where we are, here." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I heard dad say that," spoke Bud. "But if Hank Fisher had any +rights that we violated, why didn't he go to law about it?" +</P> + +<P> +"That isn't Hank's way," commented Yellin' Kid. "He'd more likely try +some such tricks as <I>that</I>," and the cowboy nodded toward the warning +on the board. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think he left that?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"And was he, or Del Pinzo, in our camp last night?" cried Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"As to that I couldn't say," replied Yellin' Kid. "I slept like two +tops last night, after I got t' sleep. I didn't even hear you fellows +<I>snore</I>," he added, for the three boy ranchers had a tent to +themselves, while Old Billee and Yellin' Kid bunked in an adjoining +one, Buck Tooth having his own special dugout near the camp fire. +</P> + +<P> +"We never snore!" declared Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I didn't hear a sound!" assented Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +"Nor I," said Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +There was no use asking Buck Tooth. An actual demonstration would have +been required to make him understand what a "snore" was, and then he +might have misinterpreted it into an attempt to work some "magic" on +him. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, somebody came in our camp, and left that board—there's no +getting away from the fact," declared Bud, as he put aside the ominous +warning. "And it may have some connection with the stoppage of the +water, or it may not." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm inclined t' think it has," said Yellin' Kid. "An', what's more, +Bud, I think we'll wake up again, some mornin', t' find that reservoir +of yours out-a business." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean Hank Fisher, or Del Pinzo and his crowd, will blow it up?" +asked Bud anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Not exactly that, but they'll cut off your water supply." +</P> + +<P> +"But how can they?" asked Bud. "They can't do anything to the pipe +intake at Pocut River without being seen, and dad had legal advice to +the effect that he has as good right to that river water as Double Z, +or any other ranch. And as for this end of the pipe here, we can look +after that, I reckon," and he significantly tapped his .45 which he had +strapped on, preparatory to getting ready for the cattle shipment. +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right," asserted Yellin' Kid. "But you've forgotten th' +big tunnel under the mountain, Bud, where the water runs free after it +leaves the river pipe, an' before it gets to the pipe here." +</P> + +<P> +"But Hank, or Del Pinzo, can't cut off the water inside the mountain +tunnel without having it back up and run into the river again—and it +didn't do that!" Bud insisted. +</P> + +<P> +Yellin' Kid shrugged his shoulders, as he started for the corral to get +his horse, since he was to aid in driving the cattle to the railroad +stock yard. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know nothin' about th' scientific end of it," he drawled +loudly, "but, mark my words, there's some queer business goin' on, an' +Hank Fisher an' Del Pinzo have a hand in it. Look out for your water +supply, Bud; that's my advice!" +</P> + +<P> +"An' don't let any more black rabbits cross your path," added Old +Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Bunk!" scoffed Bud. "Though I don't like this warning, all the same. +Let's go take a look at the reservoir, fellows." +</P> + +<P> +But an inspection of the concrete water-container showed nothing wrong +there. The sparkling fluid, so necessary for the cattle, and so vital +to Diamond X Second, was spurting from the pipe freely. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess they're only trying to bluff us!" was Dick's opinion. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe," assented his cousin. "But, all the same, I'd like to know who +was in our camp last night. If this thing is going to keep up we'll +have to mount guard." +</P> + +<P> +"That wouldn't be a bad idea," declared Nort. "I don't like to go to +bed so early, anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +"You'll be glad enough to turn in after we get into the swing of things +here, branding cattle, shipping 'em off and all that," said Bud. "But +let's take a look around after we get this bunch off." +</P> + +<P> +And when Yellin' Kid, with another cowboy sent by Mr. Merkel to help +Bud in getting the steers to the railroad station, had departed with +the shipment, the boy ranchers, Old Billee and Buck Tooth made a +careful examination in the vicinity of the tents. +</P> + +<P> +Of course, with so many who really belonged in the camp, tramping +around it, there was little likelihood of an alien foot being +discovered. Nevertheless, Bud hoped for something of this sort. But +it was not to be. No trace of the midnight intruder, who had left the +ominous warning, was discovered. And yet he had come and gone—had +even penetrated to the tent where the boys were sleeping. +</P> + +<P> +"It's either bluff, or it means something," declared Bud, as they +assembled for lunch. "And if it isn't bluff, but a <I>fight</I>, Hank +Fisher and Del Pinzo will find we can stick to our guns as well as +they!" +</P> + +<P> +"You said it!" cried Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Del Pinzo didn't stay long in jail; did he?" asked Dick, for, +following the discovery of the Triceratops and the capture of the +cattle rustlers, as detailed in the first volume, the Mexican halfbreed +had been arrested. +</P> + +<P> +"No, he managed to get out, and, by some hook or crook, he still +manages to escape arrest," Bud answered. +</P> + +<P> +For some time it appeared that the two warnings were only "bluffs." No +sign came from the unknown, and no trace was seen of Hank Fisher, Del +Pinzo or any of the unprincipled gang which had made so much trouble +the previous year for the Diamond X outfit. +</P> + +<P> +Nor did the water coming under Snake Mountain show any signs of giving +out. Day after day it ran its limpid stream, furnishing drink for man +and beast, and enabling grass to grow where it had never grown before. +</P> + +<P> +"Some day I'm going to rig up a turbine wheel and attach a dynamo to +it, so we can have electric light here," declared Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"That'll be great!" exclaimed Dick. +</P> + +<P> +The first shipment of cattle had been safely gotten off from Flume +Valley, and brought a good price. This money did not all come to the +boy ranchers, however, as Mr. Merkel had insisted on a strict business +deal; and he was to be paid for his share of the stock he supplied Bud +from the first money coming in. Later the boys would get their +profits—if there were any. +</P> + +<P> +But the first lot of steers had been sent away, bringing a higher price +than usual because of their prime condition, attributed, so Bud said, +to the finer quality of grass, and it looked as if the boy ranchers +might make a success of their first venture. +</P> + +<P> +"Even discounting the black rabbit and the warnings out of the air," +said Bud. +</P> + +<P> +It was, then, with somewhat of an ominous feeling that, one morning, as +the boys and their cowboy friends were at breakfast, they saw a rider +hastening toward them along the trail that led from Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Snake Purdee!" exclaimed Yellin' Kid, when the rider had +approached near enough to be recognized. +</P> + +<P> +"An' he's ridin' like he had suthin' on his mind!" added Old Billee. +"I hope that black rabbit——" he murmured, and then his voice trailed +off into a whisper as Yellin' Kid surreptitiously kicked him under the +packing-box table. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't scare th' boys!" whispered Yellin' Kid in explanation, as Snake +Purdee galloped nearer. +</P> + +<P> +The rider flung himself from his pony, which came to a sliding stop +near the camp tents, and, looking first at the boy ranchers, and then +at the big, peaceful valley stretching out before him, remarked: +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, there's plenty of room here!" +</P> + +<P> +"For what?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"More cattle!" answered Snake Purdee. "There's been trouble over at +Square M, fellows!" +</P> + +<P> +"Trouble?" exclaimed the boy ranchers in chorus. "What kind?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bad trouble," was the reply. "Call your father up on th' 'phone, +Bud," he added. "He wants t' talk t' you. Yes," he went on, musingly, +as Bud hastened in to the telephone, "there's bad trouble at Square M!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DOUBLING UP +</H3> + +<P> +Nort and Dick looked at each other as Bud slipped into the tent where +the telephone had been installed. Snake Purdee strode over to the +water pail, and took a long drink. +</P> + +<P> +"That's good stuff!" he remarked with a sigh of satisfaction, and then +he led his pony to the trough, into which the thirsty animal dipped his +muzzle deeply. "Mighty good water!" +</P> + +<P> +"An' I hope nothing happens to it," voiced Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Happens! What d'yo' mean?" questioned the bearer of bad tidings. +"The water's here, ain't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"But no tellin' how long it'll run," added the veteran cowpuncher. "A +black rabbit run across Bud's path the day he was ridin' to meet Nort +and Dick, and ever since then——" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean t' tell me you still believe in that old superstition?" +laughed Snake Purdee, who had acquired this name because of his +exceeding fear of rattlers and other reptiles. He had been bitten +once, he declared, and had nearly died. +</P> + +<P> +"There's more'n superstition!" declared Old Billee. "Look at that!" +and he brought out the board warning, and related the incident of the +mysterious disappearance of the water, and its equally strange +reappearance. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it's just one of those freaks of the old, underground river +course," said Snake. "Of course I wouldn't put much past Hank Fisher +and Del Pinzo, but if either of them sent these warnings it was t' play +a joke, an' scare our boy ranchers. Guess Hank's jealous!" laughed +Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"But what has happened over at Square M?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Has Hank or Del Pinzo anything to do with that?" Nort wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see how they could," spoke Snake. "It's just that——" +</P> + +<P> +But at this moment Bud came out of the tent, having finished his +telephonic talk with his father. +</P> + +<P> +"There's an epidemic of disease at dad's Square M ranch," Bud explained +to his cousins and the others. "It's so bad that a lot of the steers +have already died, and dad is going to take off the rest of the stock +before they catch the trouble. Some he's going to put at Triangle B, +some at Diamond X and some he's going to haze over to us. We'll have +to double up, fellows," he told Nort and Dick. "I guess dad is glad +he's got Flume Valley now. It may save him a lot of money that +otherwise he'd lose." +</P> + +<P> +"Got t' double up, eh?" murmured Old Billee Dobb. "How many head's he +goin' t' send here, Bud?" +</P> + +<P> +"About five hundred he told me. They'll be stock that hasn't been near +the infected cattle," he went on, "so there won't be any danger to our +herds." +</P> + +<P> +"Can we look after five hundred more steers?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm comin' to help you," offered Snake. "I forgot t' say that I +was going t' move into one of your <I>flats</I>," and he waved his hand +toward where the white tents made an attractive camp. "Didn't bring my +duffle bag," he added, "but one of th' boys is going t' ride over this +evening with his 'n' mine." +</P> + +<P> +"Is some one else coming?" Bud wanted to know. "If we double up too +much we'll need more grub." +</P> + +<P> +"Your dad told me t' tell you he'd send some," went on Snake. "Yep, a +new ranch hand is due t' arrive this evenin'. He's a wonder with th' +gun an' rope, t' hear him tell it!" chuckled Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"One of them fly boys?" asked Old Billee, mildly, with a gleam of light +in his eyes, however. "Will his heels need clippin', Snake?" +</P> + +<P> +"Might," was the brief answer. "But now you know th' worst. There's +trouble at Square M, an' you'll have to double up with cow punchers an' +stock, Bud." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't mind," said the boy rancher. "Dad says he'll split the +profits with me, and that's what we're looking for—to make a success +of Flume Valley ranch. We'll do it, too!" he asserted confidently. +</P> + +<P> +"If th' water holds out, an' no more black rabbits don't throw you," +murmured Old Billee Dobb. +</P> + +<P> +"Shucks!" laughed Bud, but the day was to come when he recalled the old +cowboy's ominous warning. +</P> + +<P> +"It's queer, though," said Bud that evening, when they were gathered +around the camp fire, discussing the coming of the cattle from Square +M, which were to arrive the following day, or the one after that. +"It's queer what made that disease break out so suddenly among dad's +steers. There aren't any cases of it at Double Z; are there?" he asked +Snake. "And Fisher's place is the next one nearest ours." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I don't recall hearin' that Hank's stock is sufferin' any," the +cowboy admitted. "But Square M is hard hit. It's a disease the +government experts are tryin' t' find a remedy for. Been experimentin' +with all sorts of serums, germs an' th' like, I understand." +</P> + +<P> +"Is it a germ disease?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what they call it," the cowboy asserted. "It can be given +easy, from one steer to another, just by rubbin' horns, so t' speak. +Or the trouble may break out sudden in a herd, if th' germ gets loose +in 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"That's all bosh!" declared Pocut Pete, the new cowboy who had arrived +just about grub time, with his own outfit and that of Snake Purdee, who +had ridden over "light." +</P> + +<P> +"What's bosh?" asked Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"The idea that this disease is spread by germs, or 'bugs,' as some +folks call 'em. I think the cattle get poisoned by eating some weed, +same as lots of 'em get locoed." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe," agreed Bud. "Anyhow, we got good feed here, and plenty +of water for dad's cattle, as well as ours. We can double up as well +as not. Now I wonder if we have blankets enough for you two?" and he +looked at Snake and Pocut, who said his name had been given him as he +had "punched" cows so long in the vicinity of the Pocut River. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we'll make out," asserted Snake, who was easily suited. +</P> + +<P> +But Bud, being the nominal head of the camp, would leave nothing to +chance. While some of the others were still about the flickering camp +fire, talking of the trouble at Square M, the strange disappearance of +the water and kindred topics, the boy rancher went to inspect the tent +where the older cowboys were to pass the night. +</P> + +<P> +It was fitted with cots enough, and one to spare, but Bud wanted to +make sure of the blankets. For it gets cold at night on the western +plains on even very hot days. +</P> + +<P> +As Bud entered the tent he saw, in the dim light of a turned-down +lantern, a figure sitting on one of the cots. +</P> + +<P> +"That you, Snake?" Bud asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No, it's me," answered the voice of the new cowboy, Pocut Pete. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," remarked the lad, and as the other arose Bud caught the tinkle of +glass. For a moment an ugly suspicion entered Bud's mind, but when his +nostrils did not catch the smell of liquor, which was strictly +forbidden on all Mr. Merkel's ranches, Bud felt a sense of relief. +</P> + +<P> +Pocut Pete passed out, after Bud had assured himself that there were +blankets enough, and as the boy rancher was leaving the tent, he trod +on something that broke, with a grating sound, under his foot. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DRY AGAIN +</H3> + +<P> +"What the mischief's that?" exclaimed Bud, as he unhooked the lantern +from the tent pole and swung it toward the ground where he had set his +foot. "Has Nort or Dick lost their bottle of paregoric?" and he +chuckled as he recalled what use his cousins had made of that +baby-pacifier when they had been captured at the camp of the +professors, as related in the book prior to this. +</P> + +<P> +"It <I>is</I> a bottle, and I stepped on it and smashed it," went on Bud, as +he saw the shining particles of thin glass. "That new cowboy, Pocut +Pete, must have dropped it. Hope it wasn't any medicine he needed. +Smells mighty queer, though!" and Bud sniffed the air. "I hope he +isn't one of those 'dope fiends,'" and again a feeling of apprehension +passed over him. +</P> + +<P> +Bud picked up one of the largest pieces of the crushed glass bottle. +The little phial appeared to have been filled with a sticky, yellowish +substance, and the odor was not pleasant. +</P> + +<P> +"Whew!" exclaimed Bud as he caught a strong whiff of it. "I wouldn't +want to have to take any of <I>that</I> for medicine. Guess I'll ask Snake +what he knows of Pocut Pete before I make any inquiries on my own hook. +And I'll tell him he'd better bury this glass if he doesn't want to cut +his own feet, or that of the others." +</P> + +<P> +"Bunks all right?" asked Old Billee Dobb, as Bud emerged from the tent. +</P> + +<P> +"All ready to turn in," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Which I'm going to do dark an' early," declared the old cowboy. "I +have the late watch t'-night." +</P> + +<P> +For it had been decided, with the coming of the additional steers from +Square M, that it would be necessary to ride herd, as so many cattle in +a bunch might engender a stampede. And at Old Billee's suggestion the +night-riding was to start then, to break them in, so to speak. +</P> + +<P> +Bud saw Pocut Pete standing by himself at the cook tent, Buck Tooth +having been induced to open some cans of peaches, a form of fruit much +in favor on western ranches where the fresh variety is unobtainable. +</P> + +<P> +"You'd better clean up that glass you left in the bunk tent," Bud +remarked in a low voice. +</P> + +<P> +"What glass?" sharply demanded the other, and there was in his voice a +note of defiance, the boy thought. +</P> + +<P> +"The glass bottle you dropped, and I stepped on," Bud resumed, for he +did not hesitate to give orders in his own camp. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't drop any bottle!" declared Pocut Pete. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, some one did, and I smashed it," asserted Bud. "If you don't +want to cut your feet you'd better bury it," and he hurried off to wash +from his hands some of the unpleasant-smelling mixture that had clung +to them. +</P> + +<P> +"I sleep with my boots on," said Pocut Pete. "But I'll tell the rest +of 'em to be careful." +</P> + +<P> +"It would be better," Bud flung back over his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +It was late next day when cowboys from Square M arrived, slowly driving +before them the cattle that were to be doubled up with those which Bud, +Nort and Dick considered specially their own. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the situation over there now?" Bud asked one of the punchers, +who looked tired and weary, for the trail had been long and dry, as +evidenced by the eager manner in which the steers rushed for water. +</P> + +<P> +"Pretty bad," was the answer. "This disease, whatever it is, seems to +kill off mighty quick. I don't know how many your dad has lost, but I +guess now, what with those we've brought here and them sent to Diamond +X and Triangle B, that we'll get the best of the trouble. Gosh! You +got a nice place here!" he added admiringly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it's pretty good," Bud agreed. "Bringing the water over from +Pocut River made all the difference in the world." +</P> + +<P> +"You got out a lungful that time!" asserted another of the cowboys who +had helped "haze" over the steers that were transferred to save them +from infection. +</P> + +<P> +The visiting cowboys departed next day, leaving their animals mingled +with those in which Bud, Nort and Dick had an interest. The doubled-up +herd was not too large but what there was plenty of feed and water in +Flume Valley. +</P> + +<P> +During the days that followed, matters at Diamond X Second, as Bud +sometimes called his ranch camp, adjusted themselves smoothly. There +was no further sign, or evidence, of mysterious warnings. The cattle +throve, and those from Square M, which were not in as good physical +condition as the animals that had been longer in the green valley, +began to "pick up" and fatten. +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you what, fellows!" boasted Bud to his cousins, "dad'll be +wishing he'd kept this ranch for himself! We'll beat him at his own +game!" +</P> + +<P> +"It would be a big stunt if we could, not taking advantage of his bad +luck at Square M, though," spoke Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you have to count on bad luck in this business," remarked Bud. +"Not that black rabbits have anything to do with it," he laughed, as he +looked at Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +Bud and his cousins were returning, one hot afternoon, from having +ridden to a distant part of the valley, where Snake Purdee had reported +he had found a calf killed. There was a suspicion that rustlers had +been at work, but Bud decided the animal had been separated from its +mother and the main herd, and had been pulled down by coyotes. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" asked Nort, when they were within sight of the camp with +its reservoir in the background. +</P> + +<P> +"What's what?" asked Bud, who pulled his pony aside quickly, to escape +a prairie dog's burrow. +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like Old Billee waving his hat for us to hit up the pace," spoke +Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"It is!" asserted Bud, after gazing beneath his hands held in front of +his eyes as a sun-shield. "I hope nothing's wrong!" +</P> + +<P> +But when they had ridden up, the old cowboy riding out to meet them, it +was made plain, in a moment, that something had occurred out of the +ordinary. +</P> + +<P> +Old Billee Dobb was much excited. His eyes blazed and snapped and he +shook the reins in addition to mildly spurring on his pony. +</P> + +<P> +"More mysterious warnings?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Worse'n that," was the answer. "She's dry ag'in!" +</P> + +<P> +"The pipe line?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"You hit it!" cried the other. "Water's stopped runnin' ag'in, Bud!" +</P> + +<P> +"Whew!" whistled the boy rancher. "And with a double lot of stock on +hand, too! This <I>is</I> bad!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A SHOT IN THE NIGHT +</H3> + +<P> +Wheeling his pony, Old Billee rode back with the boy ranchers, until +they reached the bottom of the reservoir wall. Then, dismounting, Bud, +Nort and Dick scrambled up the earth slope on one side until they could +look into the storage tank, and at the pipe which, connecting with the +old underground water-course, kept the reservoir filled. +</P> + +<P> +"She isn't spouting!" said Bud, in blank disappointment. +</P> + +<P> +"Just a dribble," added Nort, mournfully. +</P> + +<P> +"And if it does as it did before that'll stop in a little while," +remarked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"When did it start to stop?" asked Bud, unconscious of the double +meaning of his words. +</P> + +<P> +"About an hour ago," Old Billee answered. "I happened t' notice it +when I come up here t' try for a fish." +</P> + +<P> +"Fish!" cried Nort. "Can you get any fish <I>here</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sartin sure!" asserted the old cowboy. "They come in from th' river, +under th' mountain, though how they like the dark I can't say, an' they +come out of this pipe. I've caught many a good one." +</P> + +<P> +The eastern lads looked to Bud for confirmation, and their cousin, +nodded, rather gloomily, though. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Bud, "fish do come through the pipe. But if we don't get +any more water they'll all die off soon." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe the water will come back—as it did before," asserted Dick. +</P> + +<P> +Bud did not answer. He appeared to be figuring out something on the +back of an old envelope with the stub of a pencil. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll have enough for a week, I think," finally announced the boy +rancher. "Then, if the water doesn't come back, we'll have to drive +all the stock over to Diamond X. Can't take a chance letting 'em die +of thirst here, even if they didn't stampede, which they'd be sure to +do." +</P> + +<P> +Two things are vitally necessary on a ranch—grass and water for the +stock. Of grass there was plenty in Flume Valley, and, had the stream +continued to come through the pipe, there would have been a goodly +supply of water, even for the extra stock added from Square M. +</P> + +<P> +But when no fluid spurted from the mouth of the black pipe, the other +end being hidden in the opening of the natural water course, it spelled +ruin for Diamond X Second. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder—I just wonder—if this has anything to do with the threat we +received?" mused Bud, as he and his cousins went down the slope to the +little table of land where the tents were pitched. +</P> + +<P> +"Granting that it has, who sent the warning?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Who else but the man who doesn't want to see any water diverted from +Pocut River?" asked Bud, in turn. "I mean Hank Fisher, and the gang he +trails along with! If anyone stopped this water, he did!" +</P> + +<P> +"But how?" asked Yellin' Kid, who had strolled up to take part in the +general conversation. "He couldn't do it at th' river end of th' pipe, +without bein' found out, and he hasn't been around <I>here</I>, I'll gamble +on that—not since we started keepin' watch at night." +</P> + +<P> +"No, he hasn't been here," admitted Bud, slowly. "It sure is a puzzle. +Well, let's have grub, and talk about it later. It may come back. If +it doesn't we have enough for a week—maybe longer." +</P> + +<P> +It was drinking water for the cattle that was mostly needed, since the +occasional, slight rainfall was now sufficient to provide for the +grass, though some water was used to irrigate certain sections that +would be called "meadows" in the east. This drinking water was +conducted to distant troughs by pipes running from the reservoir, the +pipes being controlled by means of valves, or water gates. +</P> + +<P> +Had there been natural water-holes in Flume Valley it would, long ago, +have been used as a place to raise cattle. But it was the absence of +drinking places that caused it to be passed by, until, by artificial +means, tapping the river through the underground course, Mr. Merkel had +enabled his son and nephews to become boy ranchers in earnest. +</P> + +<P> +As Bud had stated, there was about a week's supply on reserve in the +concrete reservoir. When that was exhausted, unless the water again +started flowing through the pipe, the cattle would suffer from thirst. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, she isn't spouting any," mournfully remarked Nort, as, with his +brother and Bud, he ascended the slope, standing on the edge of the +reservoir. +</P> + +<P> +"No," agreed Bud. "She's as dry as an old buffalo skull now. I don't +know what to do!" +</P> + +<P> +The shadows of dusk were falling, and the boys felt that the night was +coming with its gloom to match their own feelings. Failure seemed to +stare them in the face. +</P> + +<P> +"But I don't see how anyone—granting that somebody like Hank Fisher or +Del Pinzo has it in for us—can shut off the water without operating at +either end of the flume!" exclaimed Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"That is queer," agreed Bud. "I wonder what's inside that tunnel where +the old watercourse runs? I've been through it, but couldn't see much +of anything. I've a good notion——" +</P> + +<P> +He broke off his remarks to gaze intently ahead. There was a movement +in the gloom, and a figure walked away. +</P> + +<P> +"Who's there?" asked Bud sharply, his hand slipping to his .45. +</P> + +<P> +"It's me," came quickly, if not grammatically, from Pocut Pete, whose +voice the boys recognized. "I just moseyed up here t' see if she was +runnin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, she isn't," spoke Bud, a bit shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"So I see," came the drawling answer, and it was followed by a faint +tinkling of glass. +</P> + +<P> +Bud started, and tried to pierce the night shadows. But all he saw was +the figure of the strange cowboy becoming more and more indistinct. +Bud was just going to say something when he was halted by the voice of +Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"I have an idea!" exclaimed the eastern lad. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" asked his brother. "Anything to do with this?" and he +waved toward the reservoir which was strangely still, now that the +water no longer bubbled into it from the pipe. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," went on Nort. "Why not investigate and see where the stoppage +is, Bud?" +</P> + +<P> +"Investigate what?" +</P> + +<P> +"The pipe line—the old underground water-course." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean go through the tunnel?" Bud asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure! Why not? You say it's big enough all the way through, and the +water itself doesn't occupy much of the bottom. We could walk it in a +day, easy!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Bud, "it isn't more than five miles, though we'd have to +carry lanterns, and we might get lost in some side passage." +</P> + +<P> +"That's just what I want to find out about!" cried Nort. "If there +<I>is</I> a branch passage maybe that's where the water goes! Come on, Bud, +let's go through the tunnel!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm with you!" said Dick. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment Bud hesitated and then, as he was about to reply, there +came the sudden sound of a shot, which shattered the night with a +sliver of flame, plainly visible to the boys. +</P> + +<P> +Instantly a band of coyotes set up their weird howling, and the +startled steers lowed and bellowed as they rushed about. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INTO THE TUNNEL +</H3> + +<P> +"What's that?" cried Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Who's there?" demanded Nort. +</P> + +<P> +The hand of Dick went toward the .45 he wore in a holster at his belt, +and, it might be added, the hands of the others did also. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep your shirts on," came the somewhat drawling voice of Pocut Pete, +who, it seemed, had returned after shuffling off in the darkness. "I +just winged a coyote." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," murmured Bud. "You were shooting at them, were you?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Not exactly," answered Pocut Pete, as he sauntered up out of the +gloom. "I saw something movin' down among th' cattle, an' I knew it +couldn't be any of you fellows, so I let go at him." +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Him!</I>" cried Nort. "Was it a man?" +</P> + +<P> +"Looked like one," drawled Pete. "I heard you'd had trouble with +rustlers before I came, so I wasn't takin' any chances. I didn't aim +t' hit him, though, only t' scare him, an' I must have winged one of +them night-owls!" He chuckled at this characterization of the coyotes. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's take a look down there," suggested Bud to his cousins, their +worried interest in the stoppage of the water momentarily eclipsed by +the new excitement. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you won't find anyone down there <I>now</I>!" Pocut Pete made haste to +say. "If it was a rustler he's far enough off by <I>this</I> time, an' I'm +not positive I really saw one—it was so dark." +</P> + +<P> +"It won't do any harm to take a look," declared Bud, and his cousins +were of the same opinion. +</P> + +<P> +"Suit yourself," spoke Pete, easily. "If I did hit him let me know." +</P> + +<P> +Again he moved off in the darkness, and the boy ranchers, after a +moment of hesitation, started in the direction whence the shot had been +heard and the sliver of flame seen. Pocut Pete had gone on the +opposite trail after returning to the boys, a fact which caused Dick to +remark: +</P> + +<P> +"Wouldn't you think he'd want to see if he did wing anybody?" +</P> + +<P> +"He knows well enough he didn't," declared Bud in a low voice, for he +and the others realized that sounds, especially voices, carried almost +as clearly in the night air as across a body of water. +</P> + +<P> +"What made him talk that way then?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he's—queer, I guess," replied Bud. "I don't exactly just like +the way he acts. Did you fellows hear the tinkle of glass just before +that shot?" +</P> + +<P> +"I did," answered Nort, but Dick was not so sure. "What do you make of +it?" Nort wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"Wish I knew," spoke Bud, and then he told them about having found the +small, thin, broken phial of dubious-smelling mixture in the bunk tent +of the older cowboys. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think he takes 'dope,' or medicine of some sort?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"It's hard to say," was Bud's reply. "But let's look around and see +what we can find." +</P> + +<P> +Their search was unrewarded, however. The cattle quieted down after +the shot, and the coyotes only occasionally gave vent to their +blood-curdling yells. But as for finding anyone who had been +shot—including even a miserable coyote—there was not a sign. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess Pete didn't wing anybody after all," mused Dick, as he and his +chums turned back toward the camp. +</P> + +<P> +"I never s'posed he did," grunted Bud. "He's a four-flusher, that +fellow is, in my opinion. I wish dad had sent me somebody else." +</P> + +<P> +"He's a good cowboy," defended Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but I don't feel that I can trust him. I'd rather have one like +Old Billee, slow as he is, than two Pocut Pete chaps," grumbled the boy +rancher. "But we've got other worries besides him, fellows! What are +we going to do for water, now that we have a double supply of cattle at +our ranch? That's what's worrying me!" +</P> + +<P> +"It's enough to worry anyone," Dick agreed. "Maybe the water will come +back, Bud." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope it does," added Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll take a stroll through that tunnel—it's the only way to find out +what's wrong," decided Bud. "Talk about black rabbits! I begin to +think Old Billee was more right than wrong!" +</P> + +<P> +"But your bad luck, so far, isn't as bad as your father's in losing +cattle from disease," remarked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"No, and I hope that the epidemic doesn't break out here at Diamond X +Second," went on Bud. "If it starts, and we don't get the water back, +we may as well give up!" +</P> + +<P> +He was plainly discouraged, and no wonder. He was young, and it was +his first experience as a rancher "on his own." Nort and Dick, too, +were a little down-hearted. +</P> + +<P> +"But maybe things will look better to-morrow," suggested Nort, as they +turned in for the night, having discovered nothing alarming in the +direction where Pocut Pete had shot. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe," half-heartedly assented Bud. +</P> + +<P> +But there was no water coming through the reservoir end of the tunnel +pipe when the sun shone again, and, after breakfast, the boy ranchers +prepared to explore the dark cave-like opening which extended under the +mountain. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope we can turn it on," said Bud, and he looked at the concrete +basin of water, trying to calculate how much longer it would last if +the supply were not replenished. Already it was lower than it had been +the night before, for the cattle had drunk freely during the darkness. +</P> + +<P> +Lanterns were gotten ready, a supply of grub packed, weapons were +looked to (for who knew what beast might not lurk in the tunnel?) and +at last the boy ranchers were ready to start. +</P> + +<P> +"Good luck!" wished Yellin' Kid as the little party started for the +mouth of the tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks," chorused Nort, Dick and Bud. +</P> + +<P> +Then they entered the black opening. +</P> + +<P> +If you will imagine a hillside, with a hole, or tunnel, about ten feet +high and as broad, but of irregular shape, opening into it, and on the +bottom, or floor, a two-foot iron pipe out of which, at normal times, +ran a stream of water, you will have a good idea of the place into +which our young heroes were to enter. +</P> + +<P> +The tunnel extended all the way through Snake Mountain, curving this +way and that, as a brook curves its way through a meadow. In fact the +tunnel had been made, centuries ago, by a stream forcing its way +through the soft parts of the mountain, and it was this old, hidden, +underground stream-way of which Mr. Merkel had taken advantage to bring +water to Flume Valley. +</P> + +<P> +The stream flowed along the bottom of the tunnel course, leaving room +on either side for persons to walk, as they might walk along the banks +of a stream in the open. The underground river was not more than four +feet wide, and about the same in average depth, but in places it flowed +with a very powerful current. +</P> + +<P> +"Whew! It's black as tar here!" exclaimed Dick, as they walked in past +the pipe, and found themselves in the tunnel proper. +</P> + +<P> +"As bad as the Hole of Calcutta," added Nort, who had read that grim +story of the Sepoy rebellion in India. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you want to back out?" asked Bud, swinging his lantern so that it +cast flickering shadows on the place where water had flowed, but where +there was none now. +</P> + +<P> +"Back out!" cried Nort. "I should say not! Lead on, Macduff!" +</P> + +<P> +And they started off in the blackness of the tunnel, with only the +faint gleams of the lanterns to illuminate their way. What would they +find? +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RUSH OF WATERS +</H3> + +<P> +Echoes of the footsteps of the boy ranchers sounded and resounded as +they tramped along the now dry water-course of what had, only a day +before, been a life-giving stream of water. The rocky and +roughly-vaulted roof overhead gave back the noises like the soundbox of +a phonograph, and the lads had to speak loudly, in places, to make +their voices carry above the echoes. These places were spots where the +vaulted roof of the tunnel was higher than usual. +</P> + +<P> +They had walked on, the semi-circular spot of light at the entrance +near the black pipe growing more and more faint, until it was not at +all visible. +</P> + +<P> +"There she goes!" exclaimed Dick, looking back. +</P> + +<P> +"What?" asked his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"The last gleam of daylight," was the answer. "If anything happens to +our lanterns, so that they go out, and we get mixed up in some branch +passages—good night! That's all I have to say!" and Dick was very +emphatic in this. +</P> + +<P> +"By Zip Foster!" exclaimed Bud, using that expression for the first +time in several days. "You're a cheerful chap to have along on a +picnic like this, Dick! Not!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, might as well prepare for the worst and hope for the best," +laughed Dick, while Nort inquired: +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you tell us more about Zip Foster?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh—you—say, did you hear anything then?" asked Bud, and his voice +had in it such a note of anxiety that his companions did not, at the +time, imagine he might have been putting them off from a much-wanted +and often-delayed explanation of this mysterious Zip Foster personage. +</P> + +<P> +"Hear what!" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Something like water running," replied Bud. "I have a notion that our +stream—I call it ours for it doesn't seem to belong to anyone +else—our stream may just trickle off, now and then, into some other +underground course." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe it does," agreed Dick. "But I don't hear any water running." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor I," added his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe I was mistaken," Bud admitted. "But I sure would like to come +across that missing water of mine!" +</P> + +<P> +He little realized, nor did the others, what fruit his wish was to +bear, and that very shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess what you heard was the echoes," spoke Dick. "I never heard so +many queer noises." +</P> + +<P> +"It's like the cave of the winds," murmured Nort. "But it's a great +adventure all the same, Bud! I mean it would be great if we didn't +have to worry about the water not coming back," he made haste to add, +for he realized what it would mean to their new ranch in Flume Valley +if no drink could be had for the cattle. +</P> + +<P> +"It beats the finding of the Triceratops all to slathers!" exclaimed +Dick, "and that was no slouch of a happening, either." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, no telling what's ahead of us," spoke Bud, as he walked along, +unsteadily enough for the way was rough and filled with stones. And, +as the boys tramped along in the tunnel, part of the time in the very +bed of the stream that had gone dry, their lanterns cast fantastic +shadows on the rocky walls. I have said that the stream was dry, but +this was not strictly true, for in places, where the uneven bed formed +depressions, there were pools of water. And, in some places, there +were even little rills trickling along. But they never would reach the +iron pipe that discharged into the reservoir. +</P> + +<P> +On and on tramped the boys, pausing, now and then, to hold up their +lanterns and inspect the rocky walls of the underground tunnel which +echoed so strangely to their footsteps, and through which swept +strange, cold and clammy winds. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I reckon we'll have to go all the way to the end before we +discover anything, if we do find it," said Bud, when they had walked on +for over an hour. Their pace was slow because of the uneven footing. +</P> + +<P> +"And when we get to the other end and find the water running into the +pipe at the dam in Pocut River, what then?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll hardly find that, I think," said Bud. "Or, I mean, we won't +have to go all the way to the other end if the water is found running +there." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Because, if the water's running in from the dam end of the pipe, we'll +meet the stream before we get all the way through the tunnel," Bud +explained. "I meant to call up on the telephone and find out if +everything was all right at the river end before we started out, but I +forgot. My theory is that the stream gets into this tunnel from the +river all right, but is shunted off before it reaches us," he added. +</P> + +<P> +"How shunted?" Dick wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what I can't tell," spoke Bud. "But why try to puzzle this out +until we get something better to work on? I'm hungry! What do you say +that we eat?" +</P> + +<P> +"Suits me," agreed Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not going to vote in the negative," asserted Dick. +</P> + +<P> +They judged that they were about a quarter way through the mysterious +tunnel now, and, setting down the lanterns on the rocky floor, the boy +ranchers took out the food they had brought with them. It would be +risky to kindle a fire in that enclosed place, Bud decided, as the +smoke might choke them, though so far they had found an abundance of +fresh air, a current blowing part of the time in their faces, and part +of the time in the opposite direction. This proved that there was a +good draft in the elongated cave, but it was voted best not to take any +chances, though there was plenty of dried driftwood on the tunnel +floor, and this could have been used for a blaze. +</P> + +<P> +But the boys sat about in the gleam of their lanterns, and, while they +ate the sandwiches they had brought, they talked of the strange +happenings that had led up to this venture in which they were now +joined. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Bud, who had just taken up a piece of fruit cake, part of a +chunk that his pretty sister Nell had sent over from the main ranch +house a day or so before, stopped chewing in order to listen better; +for, as you doubtless know, the action of the jaws precludes keen +attention to outside sounds. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" asked Dick, noting his cousin's act. +</P> + +<P> +"I heard something," Bud answered. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm hearing things all the while!" declared Dick. "This is the most +weird place for mysterious noises I ever struck!" +</P> + +<P> +"But this is different," insisted Bud. "Listen!" +</P> + +<P> +Nort and Dick stopped chewing and strained their ears to catch the +sound that had attracted Bud's attention. A strange, rushing, +whispering echo seemed to fill the tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +"Doesn't that sound like rushing water?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Dick, after a moment of intentness; "it does." +</P> + +<P> +"Look out!" quickly yelled Nort. "It <I>is</I> water, and on the rush, too! +Jump for your lives! It's a flood!" and making a grab for one of the +lanterns, that they might not be left in total blackness, he sprang +toward the rocky side of the tunnel, an example followed by his +companions. +</P> + +<P> +And the rush of waters filled the underground cave with a mighty, +roaring sound. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RISING FLOOD +</H3> + +<P> +Stumbling, slipping, sliding, half-falling, bruising themselves on the +sharp rocks, but ever leaping forward toward the sides of the tunnel, +and away from the depressed centre down which they could see the rush +of waters coming, the boy ranchers at last managed to reach the granite +wall. Nort had succeeded in grabbing up one of the lanterns, but there +was no time for Dick or Bud to take one, and the food had to be +abandoned. +</P> + +<P> +"Climb up! Climb up, if there's a ledge!" shouted Bud. "We'll be +drowned if we can't get above the water!" +</P> + +<P> +He had, somehow or other, brought up in the rear. Though he did not +admit it, this was because he had shoved his cousins ahead of him, +hoping thus to enable them to gain a safe place. +</P> + +<P> +And as Nort and Dick glanced back they saw, in the gleam of the one +lantern left alight, a white mass of water bearing down on them, and, +seemingly, filling the tunnel from wall to wall, as it rushed foaming +and murmuring onward. +</P> + +<P> +It was as though a dam had suddenly burst, or some obstruction had been +removed, allowing the pent-up waters to rush along the accustomed +channel. And if you have ever noticed a dammed-up stream, say in some +gutter, thus quickly released, you can imagine what happened on a +larger scale in the tunnel where the boys were. +</P> + +<P> +The water, normally, flowed only in the four-foot channel. But now it +spread out on either side, and, of course, was much deeper in the +centre. But as the tunnel sloped from either wall, in a sort of V +shape to the centre channel, naturally the parts nearest the side walls +were less covered by water than the others. +</P> + +<P> +It was because of this that Bud, Nort and Dick were enabled to maintain +a footing, though they were knee-deep in water in an instant, and the +one remaining lantern had to be held up to prevent it from being +engulfed and extinguished in the sudden flood. +</P> + +<P> +"Climb up! Climb up!" shouted Bud. "Isn't there some place—some +rocky ledge—where you can find a footing? The water's getting deeper!" +</P> + +<P> +And this was true. Either the flood was growing at its source (a place +as yet unknown to the boys) or it was running too rapidly, and in too +great a volume, to accommodate itself to the tunnel channel, and was +thus piling up in the vicinity of the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"What happened? What caused it?" cried Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind that—now!" shouted Bud. "Find the highest place you can, +and stick!" +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose the whole tunnel fills?" asked Dick, trying to pierce the +semi-gloom, and look for a refuge on the rocky wall. +</P> + +<P> +"If it does we'll have to swim for it," grimly said Bud. "But isn't +there some place where you can climb up?" +</P> + +<P> +"This looks like a ledge," Dick answered, as he caught sight of a +darker shadow on the rocky wall of the tunnel, above his head, when his +brother swung the lantern. +</P> + +<P> +"Just what we need!" exclaimed Bud, as he waded through the +ever-deepening water to the side of his cousins. "Up with you! Here, +Nort, I'll hold the lantern until you make it!" +</P> + +<P> +Thus, again, Bud was seeing that his cousins reached a place of +comparative safety before he looked to himself. For they found the +ledge, once they had scrambled up to it, well above the water, and wide +enough to give shelter and a safe perch for all three. +</P> + +<P> +"Whew! That was touch and go!" murmured Bud, as he leaned back, half +exhausted, against the rocky wall at the rear of the ledge. +</P> + +<P> +"I should say so!" gasped Dick. "It all happened so suddenly that I +don't know yet what it was all about." +</P> + +<P> +"The stream suddenly started flowing again," spoke Bud. "That's all +there was to it. Must have been dammed up some place, and suddenly +released. It's still rising, too," he added, as he leaned forward and +held the lantern down over the ledge where he and his cousins had taken +refuge. +</P> + +<P> +"Rising?" sharply inquired Nort, and there was a tone of anxiety in his +voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," remarked Bud, as he swung the lantern to and fro. "We didn't +get up here any too soon, fellows! Look, the water would be up to our +waists down there now, in the most shallow place, and it's got speed +like one of Christy Mathewson's curves!" +</P> + +<P> +His cousins could see that he had not exaggerated the matter. The +waters were rising. Inch by inch, and foot by foot, the flood was +approaching the crest. Where the boy ranchers had sat in the almost +dry bed of the stream, to eat their lunch, there was now a mad race of +swirling waters. Where they had stood, before climbing up to the ledge +of safety, there was now three feet depth of water. And, as Bud had +said, it was flowing along so swiftly, like the stream which turns a +mill-wheel, that the boys could hardly have been able to keep their +feet had they been down in the current, or even on the weakest edge of +it. +</P> + +<P> +But, as they were, they were safe for the time being. How long that +would be the case none could tell. They could see, in the gleam of the +one lantern saved in the mad rush, that the stream was coursing along +as it had never coursed before. +</P> + +<P> +"There must be a powerful lot of water coming out of the reservoir +pipe," Nort remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"Biggest ever, with all this water behind forcing it out," agreed Bud. +"I hope the pipe holds." +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't as if the pipe were the only outlet," said Dick. "You know +the water can flow out of the tunnel above, and on either side of the +conduit." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Bud, "and dad had it put in that way on purpose, so if +ever a big flood did come, the tunnel could relieve itself without +ripping away the pipe and reservoir. There's a sort of spillway at one +side of the reservoir, you know." +</P> + +<P> +The boys from the east had noticed this. Up to now no water had run +off through this auxiliary channel, but it was there for emergencies +such as now had occurred. And the water could find a vent and outlet +down the middle of Flume Valley, as, indeed, the surplus from the +reservoir itself did, when there was any. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it sure is queer, and we had a mighty narrow escape," remarked +Nort, as Bud leaned back again with the lantern. "But the fellows back +at the camp will be scared." +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon they will," admitted Bud. "They'll see the water spouting +out, in a greater volume than ever before, and they'll imagine all +sorts of things have happened to us." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, nothing has happened yet—except we've lost two perfectly good +lanterns, and what grub we didn't eat," asserted Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"But something else may happen," said Bud in a low voice, as, once +more, he leaned forward, and again held the lantern over the edge of +the rocky ledge. +</P> + +<P> +"What?" Dick wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"Look," was what Bud replied. And his cousins, glancing down, saw that +the waters were rising, rising, rising! +</P> + +<P> +When would they stop? +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHERE DID IT GO? +</H3> + +<P> +Pressing back toward the rocky ledge, against which they leaned, gazing +with fearsome eyes at the rising waters, on which the lantern-light +shone fitfully, and almost holding their breaths at times, so great was +the strain, the boy ranchers waited—for what they scarcely knew. And +yet they did, in a measure. +</P> + +<P> +For they waited to see if the waters would stop rising, a happening, as +they well knew, which, alone, could save their lives. +</P> + +<P> +As one of them had remarked, they might have to swim for it. But, +looking at the foaming current, dashing along over jagged rocks on +which the boys had more than once stumbled, they knew what a risk that +effort to escape would bring. +</P> + +<P> +And should the water fill the whole tunnel they would have no earthly +chance! +</P> + +<P> +For only a fish can exist in a hose or pipe completely filled with +water, and that is what the tunnel would become if the water rose to +the roof—merely a great, underground rocky pipe for the conveying of +the liquid from Pocut River. +</P> + +<P> +So you can easily imagine with what anxiety Bud, Nort and Dick watched +the rising water. Every now and again one of them would lean over the +ledge, swinging the lantern to and fro, so its gleams would be +reflected in the hurrying, foaming stream, and indicate how fast it was +rising. +</P> + +<P> +At first the rate of rise had been rapid. But as the boys, again and +again, made observations in the semi-gloom Bud, at length, uttered a +joyful cry. +</P> + +<P> +"Look!" he shouted, pointing with trembling finger at the foamy flood +close, now, to the top of the ledge. "Look!" +</P> + +<P> +"What—a big fish?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Fish nothing!" retorted his cousin. "But the water is going down! +Look, it isn't as high as it was. I can see a wet mark where it came +up to, and it's two inches below that now! The flood is going down!" +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure?" asked Nort, eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Look for yourselves!" invited Bud, handing over the lantern. +</P> + +<P> +Nort's observation was confirmatory of his cousin's. +</P> + +<P> +"She <I>is</I> going down!" remarked Nort. "And just in time, too!" +</P> + +<P> +How truly he spoke was evidenced by that fact that another inch of rise +would have sent the flood over the ledge on which the boys rested! +</P> + +<P> +So narrow had been their escape! +</P> + +<P> +"If she only doesn't begin to rise again, after she starts going +down—as you say she is—we'll be all right," said Dick. "But if she +comes up——" +</P> + +<P> +He did not finish what he started to say, but his companions knew what +he meant, and they looked each other in the face with grave +apprehensions. +</P> + +<P> +"The question is now," went on Bud, as he again took an observation and +noted that the flood was still on the descent, "how long we shall have +to stay here." +</P> + +<P> +"If it's too long we'll be wanting some of that grub which was washed +away," asserted Diet. "In fact I dropped a sandwich half eaten." +</P> + +<P> +"Same here," remarked his brother. "But let's hope that it will go +down as suddenly as it came up." +</P> + +<P> +That was all they could do—hope; but it bore fruits, for in about an +hour, as they ascertained by glances at their watches, the flood was +almost down to the normal channel of the underground stream. +</P> + +<P> +"And if it will only stay there we can venture to keep on to the other +end of the tunnel," spoke Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you do that?" Dick wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" asked Bud. "We want to see what happened, and where this +water goes to when it disappears so suddenly; don't we?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Dick. "But I thought, after our escape, that we had +better head back for camp." +</P> + +<P> +"It's about six of one and half a dozen of the other," asserted Bud. +"We're almost half way through the tunnel, now, and we might as well +keep on. I'd like to solve this mystery, and we can't if we call it +off now." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," assented Nort. "We don't run any more danger going on +to the river end of the tunnel than we would in going back to the camp +end. That is unless we discover a big cavern, or hole through to +China, in the other end of the tunnel. Even then we might be able to +skirt around it." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go on!" suggested Bud, as he prepared to climb down off the +ledge. "This thing has my goat!" +</P> + +<P> +"Speaking of goats is most appropriate on a cattle ranch," laughed +Nort, and the spirits of all the lads were lighter now. "But let's +keep on to the end for which we started!" +</P> + +<P> +This was agreed to and, after waiting a little while to make sure that +the waters were not again going to rise, away started the boy ranchers. +They were traveling lighter now, for they only had one lantern, and no +food to carry. +</P> + +<P> +The remainder of the tunnel was as the first part had been—a great, +uneven tube through the mountain, twisting and turning here and there, +sometimes the roof being so high that it did not show in the swinging +lantern-light, and again being low enough, almost, for the boys to +touch. +</P> + +<P> +On all sides was evidence that the flood had been here, as it had been +at the place where the boys took refuge. Now and then they came to +deep pools, which they had to skirt, and, in one case, leap over. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, as they were walking along, the lantern which Bud was +carrying went out, leaving them in pitch blackness! +</P> + +<P> +"Hello! What's the idea?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you do it on purpose?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, no, of course not!" asserted Bud. "The oil must be gone, though +I filled it before we started, and it ought to have burned longer than +this." +</P> + +<P> +"Whew! This is tough!" bemoaned Nort. "Left in the dark!" +</P> + +<P> +"Not altogether!" exclaimed Bud. "I brought some candles!" +</P> + +<P> +"Great!" voiced Nort. "Light up!" +</P> + +<P> +Which Bud did, placing a short length of candle inside the lantern, by +fastening it, with some grease that hardened, on top of the oil +reservoir of the wick. +</P> + +<P> +"But I can't understand what happened to the lantern," went on Bud, +making an examination by means of a second candle, from the store he +had, luckily, placed in his pocket. "Oh, yes, I can!" he went on. +</P> + +<P> +"What?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"One of the soldered seams of the lantern oil tank started, and the oil +has leaked out. Guess one of us must have banged it against a stone +when we made the rush. But we'll be all right. A candle in the +lantern is nearly as good as the regular wick." +</P> + +<P> +It was not quite so good, but the boys made the best of it as they +tramped on through the tunnel, hoping to reach the river end without +another flood, or any mishap. +</P> + +<P> +"The water seems to be behaving very nicely," observed Nort, as they +all saw that the stream was well within its rocky channel. +</P> + +<P> +"But what gets me," said Bud, "is where it goes to—when it goes. I +mean where does it disappear to? We haven't come to a single branch +tunnel, or any other passage that could drain off the river water." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," agreed his cousins. +</P> + +<P> +"But maybe we'll find it further on," suggested Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll soon know, for we must be close to the other end now," observed +Bud. "Our candles are holding out well." +</P> + +<P> +They had come several miles, as they knew by the time consumed. The +way through the tunnel had been uphill all the way, as it must needs be +to allow the water to run down to the reservoir in Flume Valley. But, +so far, they had seen nothing to indicate any side channel for the +stream—any place that might drain off the water, and return it in such +a sudden volume as to cause a flood. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't understand it," Bud remarked as he swung the lantern to and +fro. "It sure is a puzzle. Where does the water disappear?" +</P> + +<P> +His cousins could offer no solution. All the way along they had +carefully scanned the underground stream, but there appeared no break +in its uneven, rocky bank in the middle of the tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, let's keep on," suggested Nort. "We aren't at the end yet, and +it may be close to the intake—I mean the mysterious influence—that +shuts off our water supply and turns it on again, may be there. +Forward, march!" he cried gaily. +</P> + +<P> +Together they started off, having come to a momentary halt to inspect a +place wider and deeper than usual, when Bud suddenly came to a stop and +exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Some one is coming!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A NIGHT ATTACK +</H3> + +<P> +Instantly the boy ranchers came to a halt, standing there in the +tunnel, beside the running water. They had nearly reached the other +end of the flume, and could dimly see, ahead of them, a faint glow, +which told of daylight to come. Bud, who was carrying the lantern, +made shift to hide it behind the bodies of himself and his cousins, so +that the unknown, approaching, might not have them at a disadvantage, +he being in the dark. +</P> + +<P> +"Who you reckon it is?" asked Nort. He and his brother were rapidly +falling into the custom of using the picturesque if not always elegant +talk of the west. Nort spoke in a whisper, and Bud answered in the +same tone. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't imagine who it may be," spoke the western lad, "but if it's +Hank, Del Pinzo, or any of their gang——" +</P> + +<P> +He did not finish, but a slight movement told that he was freeing his +.45 in its holster, an example quickly followed by Nort and Dick. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the steps continued to approach, echoing loudly in the +vaulted tunnel, as if the maker of them had no design to conceal his +movements. In another few seconds the boys saw, looming in front of +them, as displayed by the gleam of their half-hidden lantern, a bulky +figure. At the same moment the figure seemed to become aware of the +presence in the tunnel of others besides himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Who's there?" came in sharp challenge. +</P> + +<P> +And what a relief it was to the boy ranchers when they heard that voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Slim!" cried Bud. "Slim Degnan!" +</P> + +<P> +"That you, Bud?" called the foreman of Diamond X ranch, as he +recognized the voice of his employer's son, while Bud, in turn, sensed +whom the looming figure was. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure!" Bud joyously answered. "And Nort and Dick are here! Say, +what's the matter with our water? Is there a stoppage at the dam?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nary a stop, but your dad got a telephone from your side-partners at +the valley camp, saying you'd started through the tunnel to see what +caused the shut-off. I happened to be over near Square M, seeing if I +could get on the track of that cattle epidemic, and they relayed your +dad's message on to me. So I hit the trail for here." +</P> + +<P> +"What was dad's message?" Bud wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, he said you, and them tenderfeet—— No, I'll take <I>that</I> back!" +Slim hastened to say as he recalled all that Nort and Dick had done. +"Anyhow, he said they shouldn't have allowed you to come in the tunnel +alone, and he asked some of the men, from this end, to go in and see if +they could locate you." +</P> + +<P> +"You found us," said Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," resumed Slim, "I just got here, heard the news and I started +in. Some of the others are coming, but I guess we don't need to make +any search. You're here!" +</P> + +<P> +"And more by good luck than good management," asserted Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"How's that?" asked Slim, as they all started for the opening at the +river end of the tunnel, where daylight dimly showed. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, when we started in at the other side the stream was dry," +explained Bud. "There wasn't a drop coming through the pipe into the +reservoir, and we left, early this morning, to see what the trouble +was. When we got half way through the stream suddenly began flowing, +and there was a regular flood. Only that we found a ledge to climb up +on, we'd been drowned!" +</P> + +<P> +"As bad as that!" gasped Slim. +</P> + +<P> +"Every bit!" Dick asserted. +</P> + +<P> +"But tell me," went on Bud, "did the water stop at the river end, Slim? +Was there any stoppage at the dam or pipe?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nary a stop, Bud," Slim answered. "They told me, when I started in, +that the water had been flowing all night, as usual, and they didn't +see why you claimed there was none at your end." +</P> + +<P> +"By Zip Foster! But there's something mighty strange here!" cried the +boy rancher. +</P> + +<P> +"You intimated good and plenty that time!" declared Slim as he and the +boys reached the river end of the tunnel, where the intake pipe took +the water from the Pocut stream, delivering it to the tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +"But here's a queer part of it," went on Dick, as they joined the other +cowboys who were preparing to follow Slim in, and search for the +Diamond X lads. "No such body of water, as so nearly overwhelmed us, +ever came through this pipe," and he pointed to the one that tapped the +dammed-up water of the river. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right!" agreed Bud. "This thing gets worse and worse! We'll +never get to the bottom of this mystery!" +</P> + +<P> +"You're right!" declared one of the cowboys. "When you're dealing with +them underground water-courses you never know what you're up against. +The old Indians and Spaniards who lived here hundreds of years ago had +their own troubles, and maybe they wished them same troubles on to you." +</P> + +<P> +"What you mean?" asked Slim. "That's all bosh!" +</P> + +<P> +"Bosh nothin'!" declared another. "You read history an' you'll get +lots of cases where streams showed up, and then vanished under +mountains, more than once." +</P> + +<P> +"A heap sight you know about <I>hist'ry</I>!" laughed Slim in good-natured +raillery. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, this is sure queer, anyhow!" declared Bud. "Is there any +history of the stream that waters our valley?" he asked the cowboy who +had made the assertion. +</P> + +<P> +"Not your particular one," was the answer, "but there's lots of just +such cases mentioned—hidden water-courses and all that." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, there's something wrong," agreed Bud, "and I believe there must +be some place along the tunnel where our water shunts itself off at +times, and turns itself on again. We were looking for just such a +place." +</P> + +<P> +"And you didn't find it?" asked Slim. +</P> + +<P> +"Nary a find!" asserted Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"But we aren't going to give up, just on that account!" said Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Bet you not!" added his brother. "We'll try it again, and take a +canoe with us, so if the dry water-course suddenly turns wet, we can +paddle along it." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it seems to be all right now," spoke Slim. "And you'd better +'phone your father that you're all right, Bud. He'll be anxious to +hear." +</P> + +<P> +And after Mr. Merkel had been assured, over the wire, of the safe +transit of his son and nephews through the tunnel, the boys' camp was +called up, to let Old Billee and the others know that no accident had +happened. +</P> + +<P> +"Gosh! I'm glad to hear that!" said the veteran cowboy over the wire. +"When we see that there water come gushin' out, we thought sure you was +goners, Bud!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then the water is running again?" Bud asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Absolutely!" declared Billee. "You comin' back here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure! But <I>over</I> the mountain—not <I>under</I> it." +</P> + +<P> +Bud and his boy rancher chums remained that night at the store +settlement near the dam, getting beds in what passed for a hotel. It +was too late to secure horses and ride over Snake Mountain trail back +to Flume Valley. +</P> + +<P> +While thus having a night of leisure, and seeing such sights as were to +be viewed in the little town, Bud and his chums discussed the queer +situation of the mysteriously disappearing and reappearing water. But, +talk as they did, and venture opinions as they and their cowboy friends +did, no one could hit on a solution. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll just have to make another and more careful inspection," declared +Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what!" agreed Bud. +</P> + +<P> +They learned from Slim that the situation regarding the cattle epidemic +at Square M ranch was not much better. All stock which had not been +exposed to the infection had been removed, either to Diamond X, +Triangle B or Flume Valley, and the infected steers remaining there +were being treated by a veterinarian whom Mr. Merkel had engaged. +</P> + +<P> +"But they're slowly dying off," Slim reported. "And I don't believe +Square M ranch will ever be safe to use again." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Because there must be some infection in the grass there to have made +so many of the cattle sicken and die." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe it was something else," suggested Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe," assented the foreman. "It's about as mysterious as that +underground river of yours. Had any more warnings, Bud?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I guess they're done with. And I believe it's a natural cause, +and not due to any work of enemies, that accounts for the queer way our +flume acts." +</P> + +<P> +"Um!" spoke Slim musingly, and that was all he would say. +</P> + +<P> +Borrowing horses from their friends, the boy ranchers next day made the +trip over Snake Mountain and returned to camp, finding matters there in +good shape. There was an abundance of water in the reservoir, and the +pipe was flowing freely. +</P> + +<P> +For more than a week nothing happened. The cattle at Flume Valley, +including those of the boy ranchers, and the herd transferred from +Square M to save it from the epidemic, were doing well, abundant grass +and water being their portions. +</P> + +<P> +There was no lack of hard work for the boys and their cowboy +assistants, for it was not all easy sailing. Occasionally bunches of +steers would stray, and have to be driven back by hard riding. There +were night watches to be carried on, and another bunch of cattle was +shipped away. +</P> + +<P> +Bud, Dick and Nort hazed them over to the railroad, and on the trip a +small-sized stampede gave them all they wanted to handle. But they +were true sons of the west, and did not complain. +</P> + +<P> +"Whew! That was hot, while it lasted!" exclaimed Bud, as he and +cousins managed to get the stampeding animals quieted, after they had +tried so hard to run off by themselves, in varying directions. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, a thing like that gives you an appetite," remarked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"As if <I>you</I> ever needed any stimulant!" laughed Nort. "I never saw +the time yet when you had to be offered an inducement to sit up to +grub!" +</P> + +<P> +"You either!" retorted the stout lad. "But, speaking of grub, when do +we eat, Bud?" +</P> + +<P> +"Might as well make it right soon," was the answer. "Now that we have +the steers quieted they'll be glad enough to take it easy. I planned +to water 'em at the next stopping place, and that will give us a chance +to see what Buck Tooth put up for us." +</P> + +<P> +"Stay there all night; will we?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Might as well," assented his cousin. "No use running all the fat off +our stock. We want 'em to weigh as heavy as possible." +</P> + +<P> +This was good business tact on the part of the boy ranchers. For +cattle are generally sold by weight, either "on the hoof," which means +alive and as they stand in the stock yards, or by weight after being +slaughtered. In the case of ranchers "on the hoof" is generally +understood. +</P> + +<P> +And driving a bunch of steers at too great a speed from the ranch to +the railroad would make them thin, "running off their fat," so to +speak, thus losing all the advantages of the rich fodder to which they +had had access. And when it is considered that it is not at all +difficult to cause a steer to lose from ten to fifteen pounds by means +of poor driving, and when to this statement is added the fact that this +loss is multiplied in hundreds of steers, Bud's state of mind can +easily be imagined. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we'll get 'em quieted down, and take it easy ourselves," +suggested the Western lad. And, a little later when some of the steers +broke into a run, Nort exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Are they stampeding again?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. I reckon they just smell water," Bud answered. +</P> + +<P> +This proved to be true, and this contagion spread all through the herd, +though with no ill effects, for the water hole was not far off and, +reaching it, the animals stopped to drink. +</P> + +<P> +There was some confusion and excitement because so many thirsty cattle +all wanted to drink at once, but it did not last long, and Bud, Nort +and Dick were glad when they could slip from their saddles, tossing the +reins over their ponies' heads as an intimation to the animals not to +stray. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh boy! But I'm tired!" exclaimed Nort, sighing. +</P> + +<P> +"Add hungry to that and I'm with you," said his brother. For there had +been days of long and difficult work in preparing this bunch of cattle +for shipment. +</P> + +<P> +"Getting tired of the game?" asked Bud, as he rustled up some sticks of +greasewood to make a fire over which they might boil coffee and fry +bacon. +</P> + +<P> +"Not on your life!" laughed Nort. "We're in the game to stick!" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure thing!" asserted Dick. +</P> + +<P> +They made a simple but ample meal over the camp fire and then, as +evening settled down over the vast prairies, and quiet enfolded them +like some soft mantle, they lay on their blankets and gazed at the +feeding cattle. +</P> + +<P> +The steers were very quiet now, evidently feeling quite satisfied with +the manner in which they had been treated, and having, of course, no +intimation of the fate in store for them. They had food and water and +that is all they required. Overhead was the cloudless sky, in which +sparkling stars were beginning to stud themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope the market is well up in price when we get to the yards," +observed Bud, idly chewing on a spear of grass. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it would be dandy to get a big price for this stock," agreed Nort. +</P> + +<P> +The boy ranchers were rapidly becoming interested in the business end +of their venture, as they had been, for some time, in the more +picturesque side. The difference of a fraction of a cent in the price +of cattle on the hoof meant the difference of several hundred of +dollars where there were many tons of meat to be considered. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we'd better ride herd a little while, to make sure they get +bedded down quietly," suggested Bud, as it began to get darker. "Then +we'll roll up and snooze ourselves." +</P> + +<P> +This "bedding down" of the cattle, meaning thereby inducing them to get +quiet enough so they would lie down contentedly chewing their cuds, was +part of the routine of a cowboy's life. +</P> + +<P> +"Some of 'em have already started in," observed Nort, as he went up to +his pony, which, with the other two animals, had been contentedly +grazing. "Looks like they'd lived here all their lives." +</P> + +<P> +He indicated a score or more of the steer's that were stretched out on +the rich grass which at once formed their food and their bed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I reckon we'll have a quiet night," observed Bud. +</P> + +<P> +The three chums slowly rode around the bunch of cattle, the lads +occasionally breaking into the chorus of some song. +</P> + +<P> +The cattle seemed to like this singing—not that this is to be +considered a compliment to the voices of Nort, Dick and Bud, though +their tones were far from unmusical. But the fact is that animals of +most sorts are fond of music in any form, and nothing so seems to +soothe and quiet a bunch of cattle, especially at night, as the singing +of the herders. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps it is due to this fact that we have so many cowboy songs with +an interminable number of verses, in which there is little sense or +sequence—a mere jumble of words, often repeated. The cattle seem to +care more for the tune than for the sentiment. +</P> + +<P> +At any rate the bunch from Flume Valley grew more quiet as the night +became darker, and when the remains of their camp fire gleamed dully in +the blackness, as they made their way back to it, Bud and his cousins +considered their work done for the day. +</P> + +<P> +"We won't stand any regular watch," Bud said. "I think they'll be all +right. But if we should hear a disturbance—I mean any one of us—he +can awaken the others, and we'll do whatever we have to." +</P> + +<P> +"And if we have any luck we won't have to roll out," observed Nort, as +he spread out his blankets and tarpaulin, which last was to keep the +dampness of the ground away. +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'm going to cross my fingers for luck," observed Dick. +</P> + +<P> +Save for the occasional distant howl of a coyote, or the uneasy +movement of an occasional steer, with, now and then, the clashing of +the horns of some of the beasts, there was silence in the camp. Bud +was the first to fall asleep, because he was more accustomed to this +sort of life than were his cousins. But they were rapidly falling in +with the ways of the west, which teaches a wayfarer to consider home +wherever he hangs up his hat, and his bed any place he can throw his +blanket and saddle. +</P> + +<P> +But finally Nort and Dick dropped off into slumber, which became +sounder as the hours of night passed. All three of the boy ranchers +were tired and they were in the most healthful state imaginable, +brought about by their life in the open. +</P> + +<P> +"What hour it was Dick had no idea, but he was suddenly awakened by +sensing some movement near him—too near for comfort considering his +exposed sleeping position. For he felt something cold and clammy at +the back of his neck, as though a chunk of ice, or a hand dipped in +cold water, had touched him. +</P> + +<P> +"Hi! Who's doing that?" yelled Dick, for he had a sudden dream that he +was back at school, and some one was playing a trick on him. "Cut it +out!" +</P> + +<P> +No sooner had he spoken than he realized that he had awakened Nort and +Bud, for by the flickering light of the embers of the fire he could see +them sitting up and staring over at him. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" demanded Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Something tickled the back of my neck," declared Dick. "I guess a +coyote must have been picking up scraps of food, and smelled of me. +Hope he didn't take me for a dead one!" +</P> + +<P> +"Coyote!" exclaimed Bud. "I don't believe you could get one to come +near you, not as long as you breathed. It must have been a——" +</P> + +<P> +"Snake!" broke in Nort, without thinking of what the word might mean. +</P> + +<P> +"Wow! Don't say that!" cried Dick, and he leaped up, scattering his +blanket and tarpaulin each in a different direction. +</P> + +<P> +"Shut up!" commanded Bud, laughing. "Do you want to start the cattle +off again? If it was a snake it won't hurt you, and it was probably +more scared than you, Dick." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—maybe!" said the other. He lighted a stick of greasewood at the +fire, and looked about his part of the sleeping ground. But he found +nothing in the animal line. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess you dreamed it!" said Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"I certainly did not!" emphatically declared his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, go to sleep again," advised Bud. "If you feel it a second time +call me!" +</P> + +<P> +"Huh! I'll do that all right!" declared Dick. He carefully shifted +his sleeping place, making a searching examination of the ground before +spreading out his tarpaulin. And he was some little time in dropping +off to slumber again. +</P> + +<P> +But there was no further disturbance in the night, and in the morning +Bud looked for marks on the ground, declaring the visitor had been a +prairie dog, which Dick declared his unbelief in, sticking to the snake +theory as being more sensational. +</P> + +<P> +After breakfast they started to drive the cattle again, reaching the +railroad yards and successfully transacting the business of selling +their stock. +</P> + +<P> +It was the night that Bud and his cousins returned from having driven +the steers to the railroad yard that something happened which again +brought to the front all their worries and anxieties. +</P> + +<P> +They were all seated about the camp fire, and Pocut Pete had just +arisen, remarking that he would get ready for his turn at night-riding, +when there was a sort of hissing in the air over the heads of those +gathered about the blaze, and something hit the ground in the midst of +the circle. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" exclaimed Nort +</P> + +<P> +"An arrow!" answered Bud, and so it proved. An Indian arrow—of the +sort used by the Redmen years ago, and hard to pick up now, even as +relics—quivered in the ground near the blaze. And by the flickering +flames it was seen that a paper was rolled about it. +</P> + +<P> +In an instant Bud had leaped to his feet, plucked the arrow from the +ground, and torn off the paper. By the light of the fire he read it. +</P> + +<P> +"Another warning!" cried Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"What does it say?" demanded Dick. +</P> + +<P> +Bud read: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Two wasn't enough. This is the third and last! Leave Flume Valley!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +There was silence for a moment, and then Bud, crushing the scrawled +warning in his hand, cried: +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to see 'em drive me out!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's th' way to talk!" shouted Yellin' Kid. "We'll stick!" +</P> + +<P> +They gathered about, discussing the sinister warning that had been sent +to them in such a sensational manner. There was no clue to tell where +it had come from, for no one had noticed the direction whence the arrow +had been shot. The message itself was written, or, rather, printed on +a piece torn from a paper bag, and the writing was in pencil. The +paper was common enough in those parts, and the use of printing, in +place of handwriting, would, it seemed, preclude any tracing. +</P> + +<P> +"We'd better keep a double watch to-night," suggested Bud, when a hasty +inspection in the vicinity of the camp had revealed no one. +</P> + +<P> +"We shore will!" asserted Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +The night hours passed, a double guard watching with keen eyes for any +sign of strangers approaching the reservoir or the cattle. But, in +spite of all precautions, the half-expected happened. +</P> + +<P> +It was toward morning, when Nort and Dick had turned out of warm beds +to relieve Pocut Pete and Snake Purdee that a confused noise at the +extreme end of the valley gave notice that something was wrong. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" asked Bud, who had ridden into camp at the conclusion of +his tour of duty. +</P> + +<P> +As if in answer came distant shots, the howls of coyotes and the +snorting of cattle, mingled with a rush which told its own story. +</P> + +<P> +"Stampede!" yelled Bud. "They're trying to stampede our herd and drive +'em off! Come on, fellows!" +</P> + +<P> +And all within the sound of his voice rallied to repel the night +attack, for such it proved to be. +</P> + +<P> +Leaping into their saddles, Nort and Dick followed Bud toward the scene +of the disturbance. They saw the cattle running to and fro, and in the +slivers of light that leaped from the muzzles of guns which were shot +off at intervals, they descried figures swiftly riding backward and +forward, evidently trying to cut out bunches of cattle. +</P> + +<P> +Action had followed rapidly on the heels of the sinister arrow warning. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BRANDING IRON +</H3> + +<P> +"Come on, boys! Come on!" shouted Bud, as he spurred off in the +darkness, followed by Nort and Dick. "They're trying to drive 'em off +through the lower end of the valley! We've got to stop 'em!" +</P> + +<P> +"You said it!" shouted Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are they?" yelled Nort +</P> + +<P> +Bud had no time to answer. What was needed, then, was quick action to +prevent his own and his cousins', as well as his father's stock from +the Square M ranch, being driven off by unscrupulous rustlers. +</P> + +<P> +For that this night attack was made by these marauders of the plains +was not to be doubted. +</P> + +<P> +"Ride hard, boys! Ride hard!" shouted Old Billee as he galloped up +beside the boy ranchers. +</P> + +<P> +And they were riding hard—all of them, including the cow punchers who +had come in from their night's duties, expecting to be relieved. It +was at this favorable—for them—moment that the rascals had made their +attack. +</P> + +<P> +It was so dark that only, indistinctly, could the forms of raiders be +made out. But there were several of them, leaning low over the necks +of their galloping steeds, and endeavoring to create a panic among the +cattle so that a stampede would result. Once this started it would be +a comparatively easy matter for them to "cut out" as many choice +specimens as possible, driving them to some secret place. There the +brands could be "blurred," or changed, and Diamond X Second would be +out several thousands of dollars. +</P> + +<P> +"There they are!" yelled Bud, as, riding between Nort and Dick, he saw +a group of men swinging their big hats and heard them shouting to +frighten the already thoroughly roused cattle. +</P> + +<P> +But though Bud thus indicated the presence of the rustlers it was not a +very clear sight of them that he or his companions had. Only for the +fact that those of Flume Valley rode together, and saw the indistinct +forms ahead of them, could it be made certain that the unknown ones +were the enemy. +</P> + +<P> +"Crack!" +</P> + +<P> +Bud's gun shot out a menacing warning, for he had fired high in the +air, above the heads of the rustlers. He had borne in mind his +father's injunction never to shoot at a human being unless vital +necessity required it. +</P> + +<P> +"And I'd rather lose all my cattle than kill anyone," Bud said +afterward. "Unless I had to do it to save my life." +</P> + +<P> +It was for this reason that he had fired high, and his example was +followed by his cousins. +</P> + +<P> +But that this consideration on the part of our friends was not +appreciated, was made plain, a moment later, when Old Billee exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"That was a close one!" +</P> + +<P> +His words followed the whining song of a bullet as it zipped through +the air, too close to the heads of himself and the boy ranchers to be +comfortable. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm goin' t' give 'em some of th' same medicine!" shouted Yellin' Kid, +and his gun spat fire, but straight out, and not at a high angle. +</P> + +<P> +Following it, almost instantly, was a yell of pain from one of the +rustlers—which one could not be told because of the mix-up and the +darkness, but it was a yell nevertheless. +</P> + +<P> +"You winged one!" cried Snake Purdee. +</P> + +<P> +"I meant to!" was the Kid's grim answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Fire high, boys!" cried Bud. "If we can scare 'em off, so much the +better!" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't reckon they're th' kind that scares easy," objected Old Billee. +"But we've got 'em on the run!" he exclaimed, a moment or two later, +when Bud and his party had ridden around some intervening bunches of +cattle, and were headed straight for the night attackers. +</P> + +<P> +This seemed to describe the situation. So promptly had the boys of +Flume Valley ridden out to repell the raid that the rustlers had no +time to stampede the cattle, and cut out some to drive away. Now it +seemed there must be a clash—a coming together of the two forces. +</P> + +<P> +But the rustlers, unscrupulous as they were, evidently knew when +discretion was the better part of valor. They fired several more +shots, one of which scratched Old Billee while another gave an ugly +wound to Snake Purdee. +</P> + +<P> +Then, with yells of defiance, and before our boys could come close +enough to recognize any of the raiders, the rustlers galloped off, not +having succeeded in driving away any cattle. +</P> + +<P> +But their attack had not been without damage to Flume Valley stock. +For two valuable steers had been shot, and so wounded that they had to +be killed, while several calves were trampled on and crushed into +shapeless masses. +</P> + +<P> +This, together with two wounded men, Old Billee and Snake, made up the +sum total of the casualties on the part of the Diamond X Second outfit. +</P> + +<P> +"But they're marked!" shouted Yellin' Kid as he and the others rode +back to camp. "I got one, I'm sure!" +</P> + +<P> +"I fired low, after I saw they were doing the same, and I saw one +nearly slump out of his saddle," declared old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to know if they were any of the Hank Fisher or Del Pinzo +gang," said Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't put it past them," asserted Snake. "We'll ride over t' +Hank's place, casual like, t'-day, an' see if any of his men are hurt." +</P> + +<P> +Snake spoke rightly of "to-day," for it was getting sunrise-light when +the battle was over, and the party returned to the tents near the flume +reservoir. +</P> + +<P> +The night of excitement, following the mysterious warning sent by the +Indian arrow, had ended, and everyone welcomed the hot, fragrant coffee +made by Buck Tooth. +</P> + +<P> +When Snake's wound and Billee's scratch had been bandaged, the dead +calves buried and the best part of the killed steers cut off for fresh +beef, Bud and his friends took what might be termed an accounting. +</P> + +<P> +The boy ranchers, with Old Billee, rode back over the ground covered in +the attack of the night. The veteran cow puncher pointed out where the +rustlers had ridden into the valley, over a pass that crossed a low +mountain range, which connected, in a fashion, Buffalo Ridge and Snake +Mountain. This ridge formed the lower boundary of Bud's range, and +once the cattle had been driven over this they could easily have been +hazed to Hank Fisher's Double Z ranch. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, there's nothing to make sure it was any of Del Pinzo's gang, +except general suspicion," remarked Bud, as they were about to ride +back to camp. "What's the matter?" he asked, for, with an exclamation, +Nort had leaped from his saddle. The eastern lad was picking up +something from the ground that had been so lately trampled by steers +and horses. +</P> + +<P> +"Look!" exclaimed Nort, and he held up a branding iron. +</P> + +<P> +"One of ours?" asked Bud, in rather a commonplace voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Not exactly," Nort answered. "It's marked with a double Z!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +QUEER ACTIONS +</H3> + +<P> +What effect this announcement had on Dick and Bud can easily be +imagined. Both leaped from their saddles, as Nort had done, and +gathered close to him as he held the branding iron in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +It was of the usual type, an iron plate, which had been cast in a +mould, so that the device—two Z letters—formed a depression in the +smooth surface of the iron plate. On the outer edge was a circle, so +that when the brand was heated, and pressed on the hide of a steer, +calf or maverick it would burn the impression of a double Z inside a +ring—the mark of Hank Fisher's cattle. +</P> + +<P> +"Whew!" exclaimed Dick. "This makes it look bad for them, Bud!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, not necessarily, though I'm glad we found it," spoke the western +lad. +</P> + +<P> +"Why isn't it suspicious?" asked Nort, whose high hopes had been rather +dashed by Bud's somewhat cool reception of Dick's statement. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it's <I>suspicious</I> all right!" Bud hastened to say, "and don't +imagine I'm making light of you finding this, Nort! I'm mighty glad +you did! Only we can't make it look bad for Hank Fisher, or the Double +Z crowd unless we can fasten this on them." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean we can't prove they dropped it here during the raid last +night?" asked Nort, as he vaulted into the saddle. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it," spoke Bud. "It does look suspicious, I'll admit. But you +see while this is our range, we couldn't make a fuss just because some +cowboy from Double Z rode over it. That wouldn't be right. And what's +to hinder this having been dropped by some cowboy who was merely riding +over our range?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's possible," admitted Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"But I don't believe it," asserted Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Nor I," chimed in Bud. "But you got to go slow in making accusations +out west, unless you're ready to back your opinion up with a gun; and +we don't want to do that." +</P> + +<P> +"No," Nort admitted. "But Old Billee and Snake said they were going to +ride over to Double Z to-day, to sort of size up the situation. So +what's to prevent 'em taking this branding iron along and asking, +casual like, if they don't want it back?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing to stop that," said Bud with a grin. "In fact that's just +what we'll do. Come on, we'll hit the trail for the camp and make a +sort of raid on Double Z—only we'll make it to-morrow instead of +to-day, as it's too late for a long ride." +</P> + +<P> +There were murmurs of surprise and excitement at the camp, when the +boys rode in with the Double Z branding iron that Nort had picked up at +the scene of the raid. +</P> + +<P> +"They dropped that last night, sure as horned toads!" cried Snake +Purdee, whose wound was excuse enough for not being out on duty. +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon," agreed Pocut Pete, who likewise was off duty. "Let's see +that," and he reached for the iron which had a wooden handle to enable +a cowboy to manipulate the marker when the branding end was hot. +</P> + +<P> +Bud, so Nort and Dick thought, looked rather curiously at Pocut Pete +while the latter was examining the iron. And when the strange +cowboy—strange in the sense that he had not been long in Mr. Merkel's +service—took out his knife and began whittling away at the wooden +handle, Bud uttered a sharp cry of: +</P> + +<P> +"Stop!" +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" asked Pocut Pete, with an assumption of innocence, +which was so plainly an assumption that Nort and Dick exchanged rapid +glances. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't cut off those initials!" went on Bud. "Maybe by them we can +tell who owns the iron." +</P> + +<P> +"Initials!" exclaimed Pocut Pete. "I don't see any initials!" +</P> + +<P> +"There they are," and Bud pointed to some, rather faintly cut, on a +flat place in the handle. "E. C. are the letters, though I don't know +anybody with them at Double Z." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't, either," said Pocut Pete. "In fact, I didn't see them +letters, Bud. I was just whittling the handle to see what kind of wood +it was. Thought maybe I could tell by that." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," spoke Bud, as he again assumed charge of the branding +iron. And Pocut Pete, with a sharp look at the young rancher, went out +to the corral where the spare ponies were kept. +</P> + +<P> +"Was he really trying to cut out those initials?" asked Nort, as the +three boy ranchers passed on to the grub tent, for it was the joyful +time to eat—one of the three joyful times that came each day. +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't say he was doing it <I>deliberately</I>," spoke Bud, "but he +certainly <I>was</I> whittling near those letters. And if he had cut them +off the owner of the branding iron could easily claim it wasn't his." +</P> + +<P> +"That was queer," declared Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Very," assented Bud. "In fact Pocut Pete has acted queer ever since +he's been here. I don't like him, and as soon as dad has another +puncher to spare I'm going to ask for a change." +</P> + +<P> +The remainder of that day and the night passed quietly. There was no +other alarm, and riding herd was an easy task. Nor was there any +stoppage of the water, which ran freely out through the pipe from the +underground tunnel as though there had never been any interruption of +its very necessary service. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, let's go!" exclaimed Bud next day, as he and his cousins saddled +their ponies, and Old Billee called for Yellin' Kid to help catch a +rather frisky pinto that the old cowboy was going to ride. +</P> + +<P> +"Over to Double Z?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we'll take a sort of a look around their place, and hand back +this iron," went on Bud, as he slung the implement to his saddle by a +loop of his lariat. +</P> + +<P> +The ride to Double Z was pleasant enough, for soon the boys and Old +Billee struck the hill trail, where it was cooler than down in the +valley. +</P> + +<P> +But if they hoped to discover any incriminating evidence at Hank +Fisher's place they were disappointed. +</P> + +<P> +There was no sign of Del Pinzo—in fact that wily Mexican half-breed +was seldom at the ranch proper. Nor was Hank at home. But his foreman +met the boys and Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Hear about the racket over at our place?" asked Bud, easily enough, +but with a beating heart. He and his cousins looked around for any +signs of wounded men, but saw none. +</P> + +<P> +"What racket?" asked Ike Johnson, the foreman. +</P> + +<P> +"Rustlers," put in Old Billee. "They scratched me, shot up Snake +Purdee and dropped this—or at least we found this after the mix-up +when we'd druv 'em off!" and he took the branding iron from Bud's +saddle loop. +</P> + +<P> +"You don't mean to say——" began Ike, with an ugly tone to his voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't mean t' say nawthin'!" drawled Old Billee. "That's one of your +irons, I take it." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is," growled the foreman slowly. "But that don't mean——" +</P> + +<P> +"Course it don't!" pleasantly interrupted the old cowboy, giving the +young ranchers a slight signal to let him do the talking. "One of your +boys dropped it, likely, ridin' short-cut across our place, Ike." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I remember now, Ed Carr said he lost his. This is it," and the +foreman of Double Z pointed to the initials. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, tell Ed—is he here now?" asked Billee, interrupting himself. +</P> + +<P> +For an instant—and for an instant only—Ike Johnson hesitated. Then +he answered: +</P> + +<P> +"No, Ed's ridin' line. I'll give him this when he comes in." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," spoke Billee, with a smile. "We was just passin' and +stopped with it. How's things, Ike?" he asked with an effort to be +friendly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, so-so! Might be wuss, an' might be a hull lot better." +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon it's that way all over," Billee made answer. "Well, boys," +he resumed, "might as well ride back. You gittin' all the water you +can use from Pocut River, ain't you, Ike?" he asked, turning in his +saddle. +</P> + +<P> +"Better ask th' boss about that," was the sullen retort. "I reckon +he'll have suthin' t' say, soon, that you Diamond X folks won't like!" +</P> + +<P> +"Is that a threat?" asked Bud quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Easy, son, easy!" cautioned Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"You can make anythin' yo' like of it!" sneered the Double Z foreman. +</P> + +<P> +And then the boy ranchers and Old Billee rode off. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we didn't find out much," said Nort, when they were on the +homeward trail. +</P> + +<P> +"No, but we let 'em know we found that branding iron, and that we knew +where it belonged," spoke Bud. "That's something!" +</P> + +<P> +They were rather late getting back to camp, for Dick's pony went lame, +and the others accommodated their pace to his. It was dusk when the +little party hit the borders of Diamond X Second, and saw the grazing +cattle. +</P> + +<P> +Bud saw something else, for as he rode ahead he called: +</P> + +<P> +"What's he doing?" +</P> + +<P> +"Who?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Pocut Pete," replied Bud. "Looks like he was trying to brand one of +our cattle with his knife! Look! That's mighty queer!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +"GERMS!" +</H3> + +<P> +Pocut Pete did not become aware of the approach of the boy ranchers and +Old Billee until they were almost upon him. He was either so intent on +what he was doing, or else the fact that the ponies were on a grassy +footing made their advance practically noiseless, that, seemingly, he +heard nothing. +</P> + +<P> +However it was, the cowboy, about whom Bud entertained suspicious, kept +on with what he was doing—something strange to one of the +milder-tempered steers. Something "mighty queer," as Bud had said in a +whisper to his chums. Which whisper accounted for the fact that Pocut +Pete had not heard the voice. +</P> + +<P> +So it was not until their shadows, mingling with those of the +descending night, fell athwart him that the cowboy looked up with a +start. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" exclaimed Pocut Pete, and then Bud and the others saw that he had +a knife in his hand, and something else. Something that glistened when +Old Billee struck a match to light his pipe. For the old cowboy had, +long ago, passed up the inevitable paper cigaret, and used the more +sedate form of the weed. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the idea?" asked Bud, and his question seemed to give Pocut +Pete a chance to pull himself together, to answer with more coolness +than he had exhibited by his first exclamation. +</P> + +<P> +"This steer had some sort of a growth on his shoulder—like a wart," +explained the cowboy. "I was just seeing if I could cut it off." +</P> + +<P> +"You'd better be careful!" warned Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" asked Pocut Pete so quickly that the other's remark might have +well carried a threat, which, in the tone Billee used it, did not. +</P> + +<P> +"You may get horned," went on the veteran cow puncher. For many of the +cattle on the range of Bud and his cousins "wore their horns long," so +to speak. Gradually the dehorning system was spreading through the +west, but such an innovation, found to be most practical from all +standpoints, took time to grow. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, this chap isn't dangerous," went on Pocut Pete with a laugh, +closing his rather large pocket knife with a snap. "All the same, if +you don't want me to snip off that wart I won't." +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't," said Bud. "Not but what I'm glad to have you take an +interest in the cattle," he went on, "but cutting one with a knife +might bring on blood poisoning." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, an' jabbin' a knife into one might set it wild, an' it would rush +off an' start a stampede," said Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"I realized that," admitted Pocut Pete, "so that's why I didn't do it +until I got this steer off by himself." +</P> + +<P> +He spoke this truly enough, for the lone animal he had been "operating" +on was some distance from the main herd. +</P> + +<P> +"I never saw a wart on a steer," spoke Bud, as he urged his pony nearer +to where the strange cowboy stood on the ground close to the beef +animal. "It's queer——" +</P> + +<P> +There was a sudden movement. Pocut Pete leaped back and the steer, as +though taking fright at Bud's advance, lowered its head, and, with a +loud bellow, sprang away. +</P> + +<P> +"I told you so!" called out Old Billee. "You might 'a' got horned, +Pete!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I was watching," came the answer. "Yes, warts do, sometimes, come +on cattle," he went on. "I've cut off lots of 'em. Some beef men +won't pass 'em if they have any. I thought I was doing you a favor." +He spoke in an injured tone of voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe you were," admitted Bud. "First I thought you were +someone else." +</P> + +<P> +"One of the Double Z bunch?" asked Pocut Pete with a laugh. "Did you +find out anything over there?" he inquired as he caught his pony, which +had been standing near-by, and leaped into the saddle. +</P> + +<P> +"Nary a thing," voiced Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +And then, as the group, Pocut Pete included, headed back for camp, the +old cowboy broke into song, roaring out: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Send me a letter, kid,<BR> +Write it yo'self!<BR> +Put in some news of th' city.<BR> +For it's lonesome out here,<BR> +'Neath th' blue, starry sky,<BR> +An' cowboys don't get any pity!"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"What's struck you?" laughed Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I feel sorter so-so," affirmed Old Billee. "We're in for a storm, +I reckon." +</P> + +<P> +"And that's your weather indication!" chuckled Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Yeppy," agreed the veteran, and he broke into another verse of the +interminable song—one of the series that cowboys love to warble. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you think of Pocut Pete?" asked Dick of Bud in the seclusion +of their own tent that night. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I don't know what to think," was the answer. "I did have him down +for a drinker, or a doper, but he doesn't seem to be either, and he +does his work well. Only I don't know what to make of his actions +to-night. Warts! On a steer! That sounded fishy to me!" +</P> + +<P> +"Same here!" agreed Dick. +</P> + +<P> +But as several days passed, and nothing more suspicious occurred, the +action of Pocut Pete was rather forgotten. Nor was there any further +trouble with the rustlers, or the lack of water. In spite of the +warnings and veiled threats that had been received, the black pipe +still spouted into the reservoir. +</P> + +<P> +And then, like lightning out of a clear sky, came a bolt that gave the +boy ranchers a shock. +</P> + +<P> +Old Billee riding in from off the distant range one day, called to Bud +who was opening some of the reservoir gates to let water run to a +distant trough for the cattle. +</P> + +<P> +"Bad business, Bud!" exclaimed the veteran. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" asked the lad, with an instinctive glance at the black +pipe, whence the water spouted. His first thought was of that. +</P> + +<P> +"There's five of your steers dead, over near the last water trough!" +was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Steers dead!" gasped Bud. "Rustlers?" he asked, quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't 'pear to be," Billee answered. "There isn't a mark on 'em. +Maybe it's glanders. Better get Doc. Tunison right over." +</P> + +<P> +Which Bud did, by telephone. +</P> + +<P> +The veterinarian, who looked after the health of cattle in that +vicinity, appeared in due season. Bud, with his cousins and Old Billee +went out to where the dead cattle lay, now stiff and stark. Some +buzzards flopped heavily off as the party approached. +</P> + +<P> +"Hum!" mused Dr. Tunison as he began his examination. It did not take +him long to complete it. "I thought so," he remarked, as he looked at +Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Germs!" was the answer. "The epidemic's struck you, Bud!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ROPED! +</H3> + +<P> +Like a blow struck came that announcement to Bud Merkel. And to his +chums and partners in their first small venture as boy ranchers on +their own responsibility, the announcement of the veterinarian was +staggering. +</P> + +<P> +"Germs!" exclaimed Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Epidemic!" voiced Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Has it really struck here—the same disease that was among dad's +cattle?" asked Bud, as though hoping there might be some mistake. +</P> + +<P> +"It's here all right," went on Dr. Tunison, rising from his stooping +position beside a dead steer. He looked about for a puddle of water in +which to wash his hands, and, having completed the operation, using a +disinfectant from a bottle he produced, he added: "Better fence off +this puddle, Bud. If any of your other cattle happen to drink here +they'll get the disease, too, and bump off." +</P> + +<P> +That was his way of saying that the steers would die. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do that!" declared Bud. "We can cut the water off from this part +of the range. But what causes the epidemic, Doc? Dad was careful not +to send me any of his infected cattle from Square M, and he said you'd +examined all that came, and they didn't have any of the trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"They didn't," declared the veterinarian. "I examined them all, and +nothing was wrong with them. But this epidemic is a germ disease, Bud, +and we don't exactly know how the germs are carried. It may be +something the cattle eat; the bunch grass or other fodder, in the +water; or it may come out of the air. All we know is that certain +germs, in some, as yet unknown, way, enter into the system of the +steer. They get into the blood through the mouth or nostril, or +perhaps from a scratch or cut. And once the germs are there, so rapid +is the action that the animals die over night—as yours have done, and +as your father's did." +</P> + +<P> +"Has dad lost any more?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Not that I've heard of. In fact I thought by his action, in sending +the healthy animals of his Square M herd here, and to his other +ranches, that he'd gotten the best of it. But now the epidemic breaks +out here. I can't understand it!" +</P> + +<P> +The veterinarian stood looking down at the dead animal, while the +buzzards patiently waited nearby for the feast they knew belonged to +them. Evidently they were not fearful of germs. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that funny smell?" suddenly asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"That? Oh, it's the smell characteristic of the disease," replied Dr. +Tunison. "Not very pleasant. I got some of the pus on my +hands—that's why I washed and disinfected them. Well, Bud, I'm afraid +you're in for it!" +</P> + +<P> +"You mean the epidemic may run through all my stock?" asked the boy +rancher, anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"It may, and that's the reason I'm putting you on your guard. But +let's hope for the best. We'll act promptly. Fence this place off, or +don't let any more water here, where other cattle can drink from the +pool, that must, of necessity, be contaminated, now that I washed my +hands in it, if for no other reason. Also separate the other cattle +into as many herds as you can handle. In this way, if the epidemic +gets among one bunch, you don't stand to lose so many. This is about +all you can do." +</P> + +<P> +"No preventative measures?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"No. If the cattle remain healthy they may resist the germs. Nature +sometimes provides her own remedies. She'll have to, in a case like +this, where so little is known about this malady that no cure is yet +available to science." +</P> + +<P> +"That sure is a funny smell—I don't like it!" said Nort again. +</P> + +<P> +"No, it isn't very pleasant," agreed the veterinarian. +</P> + +<P> +And then Bud, who had been in a serious, brown study seemed, for the +first time, to become aware of the evil odor. +</P> + +<P> +"That smell! That smell!" he cried. "I've smelled it before!" +</P> + +<P> +"Not unless you came in contact with the germs," spoke Dr. Tunison. +"Where did you smell it, Bud?" +</P> + +<P> +But, as suddenly as he had spoken, Bud Merkel became silent. He seemed +to be thinking deeply, and as he turned aside he said: +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, maybe it was when Old Billee rode in to tell me he had seen these +dead steers." +</P> + +<P> +"Possibly," admitted the veterinarian. "The smell is very +characteristic, as I said. But you'd better arrange to bury these +animals, Bud." +</P> + +<P> +"There isn't any danger—I mean to humans; is there?" Bud asked. "If +there is we'll let 'em stay here. The buzzards will make short work of +'em." +</P> + +<P> +"No, there's no danger to man, even in directly handling the germs. +That has been proved," said Dr. Tunison. "But if you let the cattle +lie here, and the buzzards eat 'em, in some manner the disease may be +carried to your other cattle. Best bury 'em, and fence off this +water-hole." +</P> + +<P> +Which was done. So the evil-looking buzzards were deprived of a feast, +and flapped mournfully away. +</P> + +<P> +There were anxious days that followed the appearance of the epidemic +among the cattle of the boy ranchers. I speak of the cattle as their +own, and they were, in a sense. For though, of course, Mr. Merkel +really owned Flume Valley, and put up the cash to start the boys in +business, he had determined that they should run the place as though it +was their own. They must stand or fall by what happened. It was the +only real way to start them in the way of becoming cattlemen, he +decided. +</P> + +<P> +So, though the boys were young, possibly the youngest ranchers in that +part of the west, they were in earnest and accepted all the +responsibilities that went with the venture. +</P> + +<P> +Bud was very thoughtful those anxious days. There was hard work for +all, since dividing the doubled herds into small units meant that each +cowboy, including Bud, Nort and Dick, had to look after a certain +number day and night. But no one shirked, even Buck Tooth working +unusually hard in addition to doing the cooking. Though Indian braves +are constitutionally opposed to labor, Buck Tooth made an ideal +herdsman. +</P> + +<P> +Not as much time was spent in camp as had formerly been the case, as +the boy ranchers and their older helpers were more often out riding +herd. But occasionally many of them gathered at the tents to compare +notes and "feed up," as Snake put it. His wound, received in the fight +with the rustlers, had healed. +</P> + +<P> +"Some day we'll have regular ranch houses here instead of just a camp," +Bud said, as he was riding back one day to look after the herd he had +assigned to himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, this isn't so bad," spoke Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Real jolly, I call it!" added Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"If only the water supply keeps up, and no more epidemic comes, we'll +be all right," Bud announced. "At the same time I can't be sure of +either." +</P> + +<P> +This was true. Though the water flowed merrily on since the time the +lads had penetrated the length of the tunnel, there was always an +uneasy feeling, on the part of the boy ranchers and their friends, that +it might stop at any time. +</P> + +<P> +"And when it dries up again," Bud declared, "I'm not going to be +satisfied until I find out what makes it quit flowing!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's the idea!" added Nort. "We'll solve the mystery!" +</P> + +<P> +As the days passed, and no more cattle were found ill or dead from the +epidemic, the hopes of the boy ranchers began to rise. Had they caught +the malady in time? Could it be stamped out by the burial of the five +steers? Time alone—and a longer time than had so far elapsed—could +tell. +</P> + +<P> +Bud, Nort and Dick each had charge of a herd, the three bunches of +cattle being pastured on adjoining areas of rich grass. +</P> + +<P> +But the distances separating them were not so great but that Bud and +his cousins could exchange visits. And it was on one of these +occasions that there occurred something which cleared up, in part at +least, the mystery hanging over Flume Valley. +</P> + +<P> +The boy ranchers were about to part for the evening, having spent the +afternoon together over "grub," cooking at an open fire; and Nort and +Dick were preparing to ride back to their herds, Bud being on the +ground, so to speak, where he would "bunk" for the night. +</P> + +<P> +As they rode down into a little swale amid the gathering shadows of the +night, a bunch of cattle moved uneasily along ahead of them, and as the +steers parted there was disclosed in their midst the forms of a man and +a horse. +</P> + +<P> +"Who's that?" suddenly asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't one of our boys," declared Nort. +</P> + +<P> +Bud suddenly sat upright in his saddle. He breathed deeply, and then +quickly spurred forward. His cousins saw him swinging his lariat +around his head. +</P> + +<P> +In an instant it went swishing through the air, and, a moment later, as +the coils settled about the figure of a man who started to leap for his +pony, Bud let out a yell, shouting: +</P> + +<P> +"Roped! Roped, by Zip Foster!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AN EXPEDITION IN THE DARK. +</H3> + +<P> +There was a confusion of rope and man. Sock, Bud's pony, braced his +feet, including the white one that gave him his name, and the lariat +tightened. There was a scurrying among the cattle, and the lone pony, +without a rider, galloped off. +</P> + +<P> +Nort and Dick, taken by surprise, had reined their steeds to a stop +when they saw Bud lassoing the unknown man, but now they spurred up to +their cousin. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" demanded Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is he?" Dick wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +At that instant a shot cracked, and the fast-gathering darkness was cut +by a sliver of flame. +</P> + +<P> +"Trying that, are you!" angrily shouted Bud, and he backed his pony +quickly, pulling the roped man along the ground, until the prostrate +figure let out a yell. +</P> + +<P> +"My hands are up!" came desperately out of the darkness. +</P> + +<P> +"They'd better be!" retorted Bud. "Can you get off and tie him, Nort?" +the boy rancher called to his cousin. "Get out your gun, Dick, and +cover him! He's going to be a bad actor, I'm saying!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm through!" came the sullen response from the man on the ground. +"My gun went off by accident." +</P> + +<P> +"Such <I>accidents</I> aren't healthy around here," grimly spoke Bud. "Get +at him, fellows!" +</P> + +<P> +"Who is he?" asked Nort, as he slipped from his pony, throwing the +reins forward and on the ground as notice that the animal was to stand. +</P> + +<P> +"And what's that funny smell?" asked Dick. "It's like—like the time +we found the five dead steers!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and there'll be more dead steers as the result of this!" said +Bud, and there was a choking in his voice. +</P> + +<P> +A moment later Dick and Nort were standing over the prostrate figure of +Pocut Pete. His arms were bound firmly to his sides by the tight coil +of the lariat, held taut by Bud, and the other boys could see that the +cowboy's gun had slipped from its holster and lay some distance away +from him. Nort picked up the gun, and then, with quick motions, he and +Dick bound some coils of Bud's rope around the rascal's feet. +</P> + +<P> +All the fight seemed taken out of him. Without his gun, down on the +ground and his pony out of reach—he lacked all the prime requisites of +a cowboy. There was no escape, covered as he was by Bud, who had drawn +his own .45, and Pocut Pete "jest natcherly caved in," as Old Billee +described it later. +</P> + +<P> +"Caught you at it, just as I thought I would!" said Bud, when Pete was +bound and hoisted up on his horse by the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"Go on! Get it over with," was the grim answer. "I know when the game +is played out, and it was a dirty game from the start. I'd never have +opened it only I was desperate for money, and he offered me a lot." +</P> + +<P> +"I know who you mean," said Bud. "It sure was a dirty game; and the +worst of it is that it isn't over yet. That epidemic may spread all +through our stock!" +</P> + +<P> +Pocut Pete returned no answer as the boys started with him in the +direction of the camp. +</P> + +<P> +"What was he doing—trying to cut more warts off your cattle?" asked +Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Warts!" cried Bud indignantly. "He was infecting them with the germs +of that disease! Don't you smell the rotten stuff?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" exclaimed Nort. "So <I>that's</I> the game?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," spoke Bud bitterly. "I wish I'd acted sooner, when I began to +suspect him! But I didn't think any one would play a trick like +this—especially on some one who never had harmed him." +</P> + +<P> +"Has he been infecting your cattle?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure!" answered Bud. "I've got the goods on him! He had some thin +glass bottles, with some sort of germ-dope in them. He cut, or +scratched, the cattle and poured this stuff in the sore. That's how my +steers got it, and not from being infected by those dad sent over. Oh, +it sure is a rotten game, just when we were starting, too!" +</P> + +<P> +"He ought to be shot!" indignantly voiced Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Or strung up!" added Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care what they do to him!" said Bud. "I'm going to turn him +over to Old Billee and the boys!" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't do that!" begged the bound figure of Pocut Pete. "They—they +may lynch me. Take me right to the sheriff!" +</P> + +<P> +"Too far," said Bud shortly. "I don't care what the boys do to you! +I'm through!" +</P> + +<P> +The prisoner vainly struggled with his bonds, but they held firm. +</P> + +<P> +It need not be written that there was a surprised bunch of cow punchers +who gathered in the camp of the boy ranchers a little later, when Pocut +Pete was delivered to them. Indignant voices and looks were noted on +all sides as his crime was recounted by Bud. +</P> + +<P> +In brief it was this: +</P> + +<P> +From the time of Pocut Pete's arrival Bud had taken a dislike to him, +and had suspected him, wrongly it appeared now, of being an addict to +some form of drug, slangily termed "dope." For he had found fragments +of thin-glass bottles, and had discovered in part of a broken phial, +the same evil-smelling mixture that, later, was associated with the +diseased cattle. +</P> + +<P> +Then Bud did not know enough of the danger to act promptly, and even +when Pocut Pete was discovered, "cutting a wart off a steer," as he +falsely said, Bud did not know what to make of that. An older person +might have been suspicious enough to have acted with more promptness, +but Bud, naturally, had lots to learn. +</P> + +<P> +However, as appeared later, Pocut Pete had secured from some of the +disease-killed cattle some pus, filled with millions of germs. This +unpleasant mixture he kept in tiny phials. +</P> + +<P> +How he learned that to inject some of this pus under the hide of a +steer would infect the animal, not only causing it to die of the +disease, but to transmit it to others, is not vital to the story. +Sufficient that Pocut Pete did know this. +</P> + +<P> +And he put his evil knowledge to evil use. He was caught by Bud, Nort +and Dick in the very act of infecting some of Bud's steers. For when +search was made in the morning, at the scene of the capture, broken +bits of phials were discovered, some with that vile, yellow substance +on them. And an inspection of the cattle showed several with cuts on +their flanks, into which cuts, it was assumed, the germs had been +injected, or rubbed. +</P> + +<P> +These animals were at once isolated, to determine what would happen to +them. The ground near where Pocut Pete had carried on his nefarious +operations was sprayed with disinfectants, and the cattle that had been +with those he inoculated were also herded by themselves. +</P> + +<P> +These were all the precautions that could be taken, and then Pocut Pete +was hurried off to the nearest jail, there to await trial. +</P> + +<P> +"But what set him up to such vile work?" asked Nort, when the prisoner +had been taken from camp. +</P> + +<P> +"What else but the desire of Hank Fisher to see our stock-raising +experiment fail?" countered Bud. "This is the doing of those +scoundrels at Double Z. I only wonder that Del Pinzo wasn't in on the +game." +</P> + +<P> +"He may be yet," said Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we'll be on the watch from now on—doubly on the watch," +asserted Bud. "They won't put anything like this over on us again!" +</P> + +<P> +"Not if we know it!" joined in his cousins. +</P> + +<P> +It could not be determined, for several days, what the turn would be in +the case of the cattle into which Pocut Pete had injected germs of the +disease. Dr. Tunison was sent for, but said he could do nothing more +than had been done. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll just have to wait and see how many will die," he told Bud. +"You've done all you could by isolation. And there's one thing in your +favor. No more of your cattle have been infected by those five that +first died. We caught that outbreak in time. And if it proves that +Pocut Pete is the sole source of infection on your ranch, it means that +only those he managed to cut in his last operation will die." +</P> + +<P> +But it took time to determine this, and while waiting for the outcome +something else happened which, though it seemed to involve tragedy at +the time, really resulted in clearing up the mystery and ending the +water fight at Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +One morning, about a week after the roping of Pocut Pete, when the boy +ranchers and their friends were assembled in camp, preparatory to +starting out on their rounds of riding herd, Buck Tooth, who had gone +to the reservoir to fish, came running down to the tents much excited. +</P> + +<P> +"He must have caught a big one!" commented Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +But it was not fish that had aroused the old Indian. +</P> + +<P> +"Water stop! Water him stop all time!" he yelled. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" shouted Bud. "Isn't the pipe running?" +</P> + +<P> +"No run!" answered Buck Tooth briefly. "All gone!" +</P> + +<P> +"More trouble!" commented Bud. And then, with a grim tightening of his +lips, he added: "This time we'll get to the bottom of the mystery!" +</P> + +<P> +There was no doubt about the fact that the water had stopped running. +As they all raced up the sloping side of the reservoir they saw only a +few drops trickling from the pipe. +</P> + +<P> +"The third time—I'm going to make it the last if it's possible," +declared Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"What yo' aimin' t' do?" asked Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Go through the tunnel from end to end, and both sides, and see where +the water vanished to," was the answer. "We'll get up a regular +expedition this time, and maybe take a boat. We'll find out what it +all means." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe you're right," asserted Snake Purdee. "There's no use +trying to work Flume Valley if the water supply is goin' to be cut off +without notice. I'm with you, Bud!" +</P> + +<P> +"So 'm I!" shouted Yellin' Kid. "Whoop-ee! I'm a lone wolf an' this +is my turn for makin' a noise! Whoopee!" +</P> + +<P> +"Let's find out, first, if the water is coming into the pipe from the +river," suggested Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"You call up," begged Bud. "I'm going to get ready for this +expedition. We'll have to start in the dark," he went on, referring to +the black tunnel that stretched under Snake Mountain. "But we may come +out into the light. Anyhow, we're going in!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INTO THE DEPTHS +</H3> + +<P> +Preparations for exploring the mysterious tunnel on this occasion were +much more complete and elaborate than when Bud, Dick and Nort walked +through it before. And they did not rush off in haste, the moment it +was discovered that the water no longer came through the reservoir end +of the pipe line that formed the beginning and end of the old +underground stream course. +</P> + +<P> +"There's water enough for nearly a week, anyhow," said Bud, in +discussing their plans. "And if we can't discover the cause of the +stoppage inside of that time, and get it turned on again, we may as +well know that and give up Flume Valley as a bad job." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," chimed in Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"The stoppage is inside the tunnel, that's sure," voiced Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," answered his cousin. "The water is running in all right from +the river." +</P> + +<P> +This fact had been ascertained by telephone. The water was running +freely from Pocut River above the dam, and into the pipe that entered +the side of the mountain. +</P> + +<P> +Bud's father had been told of the situation, which followed so closely +on the heels of the discovery of the evil acts of Pocut Pete. +</P> + +<P> +"Doesn't this sort of set you fellows back so you want to give up +ranching?" Mr. Merkel asked his son and nephews. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a bit!" promptly answered Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"We're going to stick!" added Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"And find out what makes this water stop," contributed Dick. "We'll +show up Hank Fisher, Del Pinzo and that other bunch of crooks, too!" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see how Hank could have had anything to do with this water +stoppage," said Mr. Merkel. "Of course it may develop that he hired +Pocut Pete to infect our cattle, but even that is doubtful. Those +fellows are pretty cute. Anyhow, Pocut Pete is where he can't do any +harm for some time. He won't be tried until fall. +</P> + +<P> +"But it's my idea, boys, that this water stoppage is caused by some +natural means. We are using an old underground river bed, you realize, +and there may be what I'd call a 'hole' in it somewhere. The water +that ought to come to you may drop down that hole." +</P> + +<P> +"But why doesn't it do it all the while?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"That's one of the mysteries," said his uncle, "one that you'll have to +solve." +</P> + +<P> +"We went over it all before," spoke Bud, "and we couldn't see even a +branch passage." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, some of the men are going with you this time," his father said. +"They're more used to looking for signs than you fellows are, though I +must say you've done fine, so far!" +</P> + +<P> +As Mr. Merkel had stated, it was decided to send several of the cowboys +with Bud and his cousins on this expedition into the dark tunnel. Old +Billee, Yellin' Kid and Snake Purdee would be of the party, which would +thus consist of six. +</P> + +<P> +In this way, there being safety in numbers, it was hoped that accidents +might be avoided, or, if they happened, there would be at hand help for +the unfortunates. +</P> + +<P> +"If we could only take a boat," said Dick, when the preparations were +almost completed, "it would be great!" +</P> + +<P> +"What could we do with a boat in that stream, which is hardly three +feet wide in places?" asked his brother. A boat had been mentioned in +the first excitement, however, but the idea was abandoned as +impracticable. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if the flood came, as suddenly as it did when we had to take +refuge on the ledge, we could float out," answered Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"A boat to hold six men would be too big to carry," spoke Bud. "Even a +folding canvas one wouldn't answer. But I know what we can do." +</P> + +<P> +"What?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"We can each take an inner automobile tire. Blown up, they are as good +as life preservers, and with them fastened to us we can float and be +carried along by the current, if a flood happens again." +</P> + +<P> +It was decided that this was a wise precaution to take, and from +Diamond X some inner tubes were sent over—old ones that had outlived +their usefulness on the car, but which still held air, and would, as +Bud said, make excellent life preservers. +</P> + +<P> +In order to make a thorough examination it was decided to take food and +water enough to last the expedition at least two days. It was easy to +traverse the tunnel in one day, as the boys had proved. But Old Billee +counseled a slower trip. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I could go with you," said Mr. Merkel to the boys, when the +time came for the start, "but I have a shipment of steers to get off, +and I want to keep watch of this epidemic. It begins to look as if we +had gotten the best of it, but I'm taking no chances." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we'll make out all right, Dad," spoke Bud. "Though we would like +to have you with us. And when we come back we'll either settle, for +good and all, this fight for water, or we'll abandon Flume Valley!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'd hate to see you give it up," said the ranchman. "It is an ideal +place to raise cattle, with the water here. But without it, of course, +there's no use thinking of it. Well, good luck to you," he called, as +he turned to go back to Diamond X proper. +</P> + +<P> +As he had said, there had been no further outbreak of the epidemic +among the cattle of the boy ranchers. The steers which Pocut Pete had +cut, injecting into them the pus and germs, died, however. And there +were more of these than Bud and his cousins had counted on. +</P> + +<P> +But if they lost no more than this half-score, and could get the water +back, all might yet be well. +</P> + +<P> +The water in the reservoir had gone down several feet when the +expedition started into the tunnel. Much of the fluid had to be drawn +off to water the thirsty cattle, for it was the height of summer now, +and the heat, in the middle of the day, was terrific. +</P> + +<P> +But there was still enough of the supply to last for several days. +Then, if Bud and his companions could not discover the secret of the +stoppage, and get the water to running again. Flume Valley would have +to be abandoned. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I can't see that we can do any more," spoke Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"No; you've got things as well fixed as possible," agreed Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't tell when you'll see us again," said Dick to the remaining +cowboys gathered about the reservoir end of the tunnel to see the +expedition start in. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, good luck, anyhow!" came the answer. +</P> + +<P> +A number of punchers had been sent over to Flume Valley from Diamond X +and Triangle B to replace Yellin' Kid, Billee and Snake Purdee who were +to accompany the boy ranchers. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Yellin' Kid broke into song: +</P> + +<P> +"Leave me alone with a rope an' a saddle,<BR> +Fold my spurs under my haid!<BR> +Give me a can of them sweet, yaller peaches,<BR> +'Cause why? My true-love is daid!"<BR> +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, give us something cheerful!" laughed Bud, as the cowboy seemed +about to start on another verse. +</P> + +<P> +"That's cheerful enough for this occasion," retorted Yellin' Kid. +"Wait 'till you hear me howl in that tunnel." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't!" begged Dick with a laugh. "It echoes so you'll bring the roof +down!" +</P> + +<P> +There was a hurried inspection of their weapons and supplies, for each +was equally needed. The inner tubes of several auto tires had been +provided and tested, and there was a small air pump with which to +inflate them. +</P> + +<P> +"All ready?" asked Bud, at length. +</P> + +<P> +"All ready," answered Old Billee. "But I wish I had a hoss!" +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't use one," retorted Snake Purdee. "It'll work off some of the +fat, if you walk." +</P> + +<P> +"Hu! Fat!" snorted Old Billee. "I ain't fat!" +</P> + +<P> +"Forward!" suddenly called Bud. +</P> + +<P> +Then with waves of their hands, and with the calling of many "good-bye" +farewells, the expedition disappeared into the black depths of the +tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +What would they find? What would be the outcome? Would they ever +reappear again? +</P> + +<P> +These were questions which more than one asked himself, but no one +spoke them aloud. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," remarked Bud, when they were well within the long stretch of +blackness, and lanterns had been lighted, "we walked, the other time, +on the left-hand side of the water course. What say we try the right +one this time?" +</P> + +<P> +"Good enough!" decided Old Billee. "We'll be right for once!" he joked. +</P> + +<P> +"But it really is a good idea," declared Snake Purdee. "There might +have been something—some hidden passage on the side you didn't travel, +boys. You could easily have missed it in the darkness." +</P> + +<P> +So this was decided on. As a matter of fact in many places it was +possible for the party to divide and some walk along either side of the +old stream bed. But this would not be feasible should the water +suddenly appear again. +</P> + +<P> +And so the expedition moved slowly along. I say slowly, for that speed +marked their course. They carried a number of lanterns and these were +flashed over walls and roof as well as on the bottom, to discover, if +possible, a branch tunnel, or hole, where the water might travel to, +and thus be shunted off from the reservoir end. But, for several hours +nothing occurred, and nothing was discovered. Lunch was eaten in the +blackness, relieved as it was only by the lanterns, and then the +expedition started off again. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's the place where we were when the water came spouting before," +said Bud, as they came opposite the ledge on which he and his cousins +had taken refuge. "I think we ought to spend some time here and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Hark," suddenly interrupted Nort. "Hear that noise!" +</P> + +<P> +They all heard it—a rushing, roaring sound, like the blowing of a +mighty wind. +</P> + +<P> +"The water—the water!" cried Bud. "Look out!" +</P> + +<P> +They could hear the noise more plainly, now, and as Snake and Billee +raised their lanterns, the glows flashed on a white, frothy mass +approaching through the blackness of the tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the same as before!" cried Nort. "Get to the ledge! The ledge!" +</P> + +<P> +He made a leap, running ahead to where he saw a more narrow place that +would enable him to leap across from the right to the left side of the +channel. +</P> + +<P> +And then, while the others hung back for a moment, and Nort thus dashed +ahead alone, his companions saw him quickly disappear. The wall of +water suddenly rushed forward, but it never came quite to the place +where the party of five now stood in nameless terror—five, for Nort +had disappeared into the depths of the stream that had so mysteriously +appeared again out of the blackness. +</P> + +<P> +From whence it came, and whither it was rushing, not to foam entirely +over that startled group, none in it could say. But it had engulfed +Nort—that they had seen. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FIGURE ON THE ROCK +</H3> + +<P> +Horror and surprise held the five speechless for a moment. Then, as +they heard the noise of the rushing water, and saw, by the light of +their lanterns, that it came almost to them, but suddenly turned to the +right, they came to their senses. +</P> + +<P> +"Nort! Nort!" yelled Dick, his voice being flung back at him in echoes +from the rocky, vaulted roof of the tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +"What in th' world happened?" asked Old Billee in trembling accents. +</P> + +<P> +"Nort fell into the stream, and was carried away," answered Bud, his +voice choking. +</P> + +<P> +"But why doesn't the water reach us?" asked Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what we'll have to find out," asserted Bud, bravely. "Come on!" +</P> + +<P> +"But be careful," cautioned Billee. "Something may happen t' us, an' +then we can't help Nort! Go easy!" +</P> + +<P> +He spoke only in time, for the next moment, with an exclamation of +horror, Bud and Dick, who had forged ahead, recoiled back. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out!" shouted Bud, and he made such a lurch backward to recover +his balance that the lantern was flung from his hand. It dropped, as +they all could see, into the midst of black, swirling waters, white +foam-capped on top. +</P> + +<P> +And it was into this stream that Nort had fallen and been carried away, +and into this stream that Bud and Dick had been nearly precipitated as +they dashed forward. +</P> + +<P> +Bud's lantern was extinguished with a hiss as the waters penetrated it +and covered the wick. It sank from sight, but not before it had, in a +flash, illuminated the surface of the water. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a good thing we took the right-hand side," said Billee, as he and +the others saw what it was that had caused the water to rush almost to +their feet and then branch off. "I mean it's a good thing, for it may +help us to solve the mystery. But as for poor Nort——" +</P> + +<P> +He did not finish, but Dick sent up a despairing cry: +</P> + +<P> +"Nort! Oh, Nort! Where are you?" +</P> + +<P> +And only the vaulty echoes answered. +</P> + +<P> +"What are we going to do?" asked Snake, who seemed unable to suggest +anything. +</P> + +<P> +"Everybody come here with their lanterns," directed Bud. "And light +that spare one, Billee." +</P> + +<P> +Thus was replaced the one he had dropped in the effort to save himself +from falling into the same torrent that had engulfed his cousin. +</P> + +<P> +And in the light of the lanterns, the one Nort had carried being +forever lost, it seemed they all could see the explanation for the +apparently mysterious action of the underground stream; or, rather, it +was an explanation of part of the mystery; for this was only the +beginning. +</P> + +<P> +Beyond where they stood, in the direction of Pocut River, there flowed +through the ancient channel a body of water larger than that which +usually filled the underground course. This was accounted for, likely, +by the fact that it had been stopped, or dammed, by some natural or +artificial means, and had suddenly been released. Thus the channel was +more fully filled than usual. +</P> + +<P> +But, as I have said, the water came up to the point where the members +of the expedition then stood. From there it made a sudden turn to +their right, as they stood facing the river end of the tunnel. And it +was this sudden turn—this shift in the course of the underground +stream—which prevented it from engulfing our friends. +</P> + +<P> +But it had engulfed Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"I see what happened—or, at least, part of it," spoke Bud while the +others listened. "The waters were suddenly turned on again, or turned +themselves on, and shot this way. Nort heard them and ran down here to +jump across the stream-bed, which was then dry. But he must have +fallen over the edge of this traverse ledge, or channel, as I nearly +did, and down he went!" +</P> + +<P> +They looked, and agreed that this was very likely how it had taken +place. +</P> + +<P> +"But can't we save him?" pleaded Dick. "I'm a good swimmer. Let me +try to get him! Maybe he's lying down there—on the bottom!" +</P> + +<P> +He made as if to take off his coat, but Old Billee grabbed him by the +arm. +</P> + +<P> +"You'd only go t' your death, boy!" said the old ranchman hoarsely. +"It's bad enough—as it is!" +</P> + +<P> +"But what happened to Nort?" asked Dick, and there was a sob in his +voice. +</P> + +<P> +"He must have been carried away—down that stream—wherever it goes," +asserted Snake Purdee. +</P> + +<P> +"That's just the point, where does it go?" Dick asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a minute," counseled Bud. "Let's see if we can reason this out." +He paused to give it thought. "The way this stream is running now," he +resumed, "wouldn't put any water into our reservoir, would it?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," answered Yellin' Kid, and for once his voice was softened. "Th' +water is all being shunted down this passage—where Nort fell." +</P> + +<P> +"But," resumed Bud, "this passage has always been here. We didn't see +it before, as we walked on the other side of the main channel. Then if +this side channel has always been here, and we managed to get water +through our pipe when it was here, it stands to reason that it must +fill in time, enabling the water to run along here," and he indicated +the regular channel that extended back of them out toward Flume Valley. +</P> + +<P> +"That's so!" cried Old Billee. "There's an end, or a bottom, t' this +channel somewhere, and poor Nort can't be carried all the way through +th' earth." +</P> + +<P> +"But—but," faltered Dick. "It may be too late to save him when this +side passage fills up." +</P> + +<P> +"What I was going to propose," went on Bud, "is that we see if we can't +follow along this newly-discovered side passage, as we have been +following the main bed of the underground river." +</P> + +<P> +He paused to let his companions visualize this suggestion. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think that would be safe?" asked Old Billee. "I mean," he +added quickly, "will that be th' safest way t' try an' save Nort? I +won't back down on anything—I guess you know that—but I was just +wondering if there was some other way." +</P> + +<P> +"There might be," said Bud. "We could go along on the left side of the +stream, and see if there is a crossing place farther on. We saw some +narrow places when we were here before, but it's a question how much +water they'd have in them now." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, but can't we do something?" cried Dick, now almost sobbing, though +he was making a brave effort to conquer himself. "Oh, Nort! Nort! +Where are you?" he cried frenziedly. +</P> + +<P> +But again only the echoes answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on!" cried Old Billee suddenly. "We'll try this way. We've got +t' do something!" +</P> + +<P> +"Leave our packs here," suggested Yellin' Kid, and again his voice was +low, as if in deference to Dick's feelings. "We can put 'em up on that +ledge," he added, indicating a small one on their side of the +underground stream. "The water doesn't appear to have been up there in +years. If we leave our things here we'll be better able to help +Nort—if we find him," he added in a voice so low that only Old Billee +heard. +</P> + +<P> +"Take our lanterns," suggested Snake Purdee. +</P> + +<P> +"And ropes," went on Bud. "We may need 'em!" +</P> + +<P> +Accordingly the food and other supplies, which the searchers after the +secret of the underground water course had brought with them, were put +up on the ledge, and then they started down the black passage through +which the stream appeared to have branched, carrying Nort with it. +There was room but for one to walk at a time on this "bank," as it +might be called, of the hidden stream, and they had to proceed in +single file. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to see a map of this place, so we'd know where we were +going," spoke Old Billee, as he swung his lantern from side to side in +an endeavor to disclose the hidden secrets of the place. +</P> + +<P> +"I have an idea that the underground stream is shaped like the letter +T," spoke Bud. "The top, or cross stem, is the part that extends from +the river to our reservoir. We are now walking along the upright +piece." +</P> + +<P> +"But if the main part of the T is also a stream, and the water is +running down that, as it is, instead of along the main stem, it becomes +for the time being a letter L, doesn't it?" asked Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," assented Bud. "And as long as the water turns at right angles, +as it does at the place where Nort fell in, and as long as the water +runs along this same side passage, we don't get any at Flume Valley. +The letter T is in our favor, and L is against us." +</P> + +<P> +"But we didn't see anything like this when we were here before," +remarked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Because we weren't on this side," Bud answered. "And I have an idea +that, in time, this second passage finally fills with water completely, +and when it does the stream again flows along the cross stem of the T +and we get it." +</P> + +<P> +"Mebby you're right," Old Billee agreed. "But this isn't finding Nort." +</P> + +<P> +"Will we—will we ever find him?" faltered Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure!" declared Bud, as heartily as he could. +</P> + +<P> +But as they progressed in the darkness, stopping now and then to look +about by means of the light, calling again and again, and as no reply +came, even the heart of the stoutest of them sank in despair. +</P> + +<P> +All they could see was black, rushing water, flowing in a channel it +appeared to have cut, after countless years, in the solid rock. There +was a narrow footpath, so to speak, on either side of this stream, and +it was along this the searchers were walking. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Bud, who was in the lead, uttered a strange cry. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" exclaimed Dick. "Do you see him?" +</P> + +<P> +"No! But look!" went on Bud. "We have come out into a regular +underground cave! It's as big as a house!" +</P> + +<P> +He flashed his lantern around in a circle, and as the others came up +and stood beside him, at a spot where the passageway beside the stream +widened, they saw that they had emerged into a great vault. +</P> + +<P> +And as they stood there, awed and marveling, there came to them, above +the rustle and whispering of the rushing waters, the sound of a human +voice—it was as though someone, sorely hurt, had moaned. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen!" cried Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold up your lanterns!" commanded Bud sharply. +</P> + +<P> +As they raised them, throwing the combined light farther out across the +stream that had widened into a pool in the vault, Dick uttered a cry. +</P> + +<P> +"I see him! I see Nort!" yelled Dick. "There, on the rock!" +</P> + +<P> +And he pointed to the huddled figure of some one on a great rock in the +middle of the pool of black water, which seemed, a short distance from +the inflowing stream, to be as quiet as a lake. And, as they watched +in the gleam of the lights, the figure on the rock moved slightly. +</P> + +<P> +"Nort! Nort!" cried Dick, and his voice was flung back in deafening +echoes from the vaulted roof. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WATER GATE +</H3> + +<P> +While they eagerly watched, the solitary figure on the big rock in the +midst of that sinister pool again moved slightly, and as it became +partly erect it was seen to be Nort Shannon. +</P> + +<P> +"We've found him! We've found him!" joyfully cried Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"An' alive, too, if I'm any judge," added Billee. +</P> + +<P> +Dick was stripping off his coat, when Bud placed a hand on his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a minute," advised the western lad. +</P> + +<P> +"But I'm going to get him!" objected the brother. "I'm going to save +Nort!" +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe it isn't safe, and we may be able to save him in another way," +suggested Bud. "I say, Nort," he called. "Are you hurt?" +</P> + +<P> +How eagerly they all waited for the answer, after the echo of Bud's +voice had ceased reverberating in the big cave! +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—I—I'm all right," came the faint answer across the silent pool. +"I don't know exactly how I got here. Something hit me on the +head—after I fell—fell in. I reckon I must have floated near this +rock and—and just naturally grabbed hold and—pulled myself—up!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's enough! Take it easy now!" called Bud. "We're coming over to +get you!" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure you're not hurt?" asked Dick, his voice trembling. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing more than a bump on the head," answered Nort, his own tones +stronger now. "Not half as bad as I've gotten at football," and he +laughed a little—the most joyful sound any of them had heard since the +sweeping away of the boy rancher. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now we've found him, the next thing is to get him over here," +spoke Bud. "Two of us had better swim out there. This water looks to +be all right," and he stooped down and tested it with his hand. "As +warm as the river," he added. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to swim out!" declared Dick, and this time, as he began to +"peel," no one stopped him. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go with you," said Bud. "We'll tie the ropes around our waists +and they can hold them here on shore. It will be better than taking a +risk, using the old tires," he added, "and, while there isn't any +current in the pool now, no telling what may happen." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure you want the ropes," said Old Billee. "But you'd better take a +tire for Nort," and they did. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold hard, Nort!" called Dick, as he and Bud took off their clothes in +preparation for the swim. "We're coming!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll hold hard all right," came the answer back across the pool. "And +there's something hard here to hold on to, all right." +</P> + +<P> +They did not then realize his meaning, but they understood, later, when +they made a most amazing discovery. +</P> + +<P> +In a few minutes Dick and Bud were in the water, lariats held by those +on "shore" tied around their waists; and the two boy ranchers were +swimming toward the big rock in the middle of the pool. Lanterns at +the edge of this strange underground body of water gave sufficient +light to enable the swimmers, and the others, to see Nort now standing +on the great boulder which emerged from the midst of the black water. +</P> + +<P> +It was the plan of Bud and Dick to help Nort to swim back to where the +others stood, they supporting him on either side. For though Nort was +a better swimmer than his brother, in his weakened condition, hit on +the head as he had said, he might suddenly collapse. +</P> + +<P> +So also might Bud and Dick, or there might suddenly appear a swift +current in the now quiet pool—that is, quiet beyond where the stream +flowed in—and in that latter event the lariats would serve to pull +them all to safety. +</P> + +<P> +"Gee! I thought you were a goner!" gasped Dick, as he climbed out and +clasped his brother by the hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I would have been, only that I floated near this rock, and managed, +half unconscious as I was, to grab hold of a projection and pull myself +up," Nort answered. "That water came up so fast it scared me, and I +slipped right into it." +</P> + +<P> +"We saw you," said Bud, sitting down on the rock to get his wind, so he +might be at his best in helping Nort on the return journey. +</P> + +<P> +"It was—awful!" spoke Dick simply, and then he made no further +reference to his mental agony. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, are you ready to go back?" asked Bud, after a pause, in which +interim they had called to those across the pool that the lost lad was +all right. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm ready, yes," was Nort's answer. "But I'd sort of like to see what +this hard lever-like object is." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes," spoke Dick. "You said you had something hard to hold to. +Let's have a look—if we only had a light," he added, for it was quite +dark on the great rock in the midst of the black pool. The light of +the lanterns did not brightly penetrate that far. +</P> + +<P> +"I have some matches, in a waterproof case, if I didn't lose it out of +my pocket," said Nort, feeling in his soaking trousers. "Here they +are," he went on a moment later. And as his hands were drier than +those of Bud or Dick, Nort opened the box and managed, after one or two +failures, to strike a light. +</P> + +<P> +As the little taper flared up the three boys on the rock saw, standing +upright about in the centre of the large boulder a great handle, or +lever, of copper. The metal gleamed dully red in the flickering light. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" asked Bud, as Nort struck another light. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," was the answer from Nort. "I discovered it when I was +crawling about and feeling around. I thought, if worst came to worst, +I could hold to this if the waters rose." +</P> + +<P> +"They seem to be as high as they're going to get," said Bud. "But this +sure is queer! Hold your match closer, Nort." +</P> + +<P> +Another of the tapers was lighted, and across the pool came the voice +of Snake Purdee, asking what was going on. +</P> + +<P> +"There's some sort of a handle, or lever, here," answered Bud, as he +examined it more closely. "It moves, too," he added as he laid his +hands on it and pulled it toward him. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out!" cautioned Dick, but it was too late. +</P> + +<P> +Bud had pulled the copper lever toward him, and, in spite of its size +and weight, it moved easily in what appeared to be a slot in the rock. +It clicked slightly, as though connected with hidden mechanism. +</P> + +<P> +Then, with a suddenness that was startling, a low but ever-increasing +roar seemed to fill the cavern in which was the black pool. The roar +grew louder and louder, and the very rock beneath their feet seemed to +tremble. +</P> + +<P> +"What have you done?" gasped Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Search me!" answered Bud in such queer tones that Nort laughed. +</P> + +<P> +And then a strange thing happened. As Nort struck another match he and +the boys on the rock could see the water all about them beginning to +recede. Slowly it flowed at first and then, with a rush, it began +running out of the place as fast as it had run in. +</P> + +<P> +"What's up over there?" called the voice of Old Billee from "shore," so +to speak. "What you fellers doin' with th' water?" +</P> + +<P> +"I just pulled that lever," sang out Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you've done the trick!" said the old cowboy. "You must have +opened some gate, and the water's running away. Better swim over here +while you have the chance. When the water comes back that rock may be +covered!" +</P> + +<P> +But another strange part of their mysterious adventures was that they +did not have to swim back. For the water receded so rapidly that, in a +little while, it was possible to wade from the rock to the stone edge +of the pool where the other members of the party stood. And wade back +to their friends Bud, Dick and Nort did. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, boy! But we're glad to see you!" cried Old Billee, as he caught +Nort by the hand. +</P> + +<P> +"You let out a mouthful that time!" declared Yellin' Kid, and his voice +nearly split their ear drums, so magnified was it by the echoing, +vaulted roof of the cavern. +</P> + +<P> +"But what all happened?" asked Snake Purdee. "Is there some old +Mexican grain mill under here that has a water-wheel, sluices and +gates?" +</P> + +<P> +"I give it up," answered Bud. "All I know is that I pulled that copper +lever—and it's copper so it won't rust off, I reckon—and the water +began to rush out as fast as it must have come in here." +</P> + +<P> +"It is mighty queer," agreed Old Billee. "Let's go take a look," and +he started to walk across the intervening space between shore and the +great rock—a space in which only a few puddles of water now remained. +</P> + +<P> +"Will it be safe?" asked Bud, who had begun to dress, an example +followed by Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" asked Old Billee. "The water can't rise any higher than it +was when you fellows were on the rock. An', according to your tell, +there's room enough for us all t' stand there." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it's big enough," agreed Bud. "But suppose we all get there, and +the water begins to come back?" +</P> + +<P> +"We'll turn it loose again with th' lever," answered the old cow +puncher. "But I reckon it can't fill up this pool again until that +lever is shifted hack where it was before you yanked it." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe not," admitted Bud. "Well, let's take a chance. If worst comes +to worst we can swim back, and I'd like to solve this mystery. I feel +that we're getting at it now!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," said Nort, who was feeling stronger every moment. +"When I fell in, and was carried away," he said, "I had a wild notion +that this might lead to the discovery of something. I managed to keep +my head out of water as I was swept along, until I got a knock on the +noodle, and that put me partly to sleep. That may have been a good +thing, too, for they say a partly unconscious person doesn't breathe +much, and that's why I didn't swallow any water to speak of. +</P> + +<P> +"I was dazed when I must have been swept, or floated, past that rock +but I came to in time to save myself. Gosh! but I was glad to hear you +yell though, Dick!" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, let's get over there an' start pryin' out this secret," +suggested Old Billee. "This is gettin' mighty interestin'!" +</P> + +<P> +It seemed reasonable to suppose that the water would rise to no greater +height than it had when the searchers had discovered Nort on the rock. +And as this boulder was well out of water, and large enough for them +all to stand on, they would run no risk, even if the flood should start +to return when they were in the middle of the pool, which, however, was +a pool no longer, but merely a wet reservoir, so to speak. +</P> + +<P> +"But I don't believe the water will flow back here until you shift that +lever again, Bud," declared the old ranchman. "And I'm going to have a +try at it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it takin' a chance?" asked Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"You got t' take chances in this world!" declared Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, let's go!" suggested Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"I think I'll stay here," spoke Nort. "I don't feel quite up to +walking over those rocks. And you may need some one on this side who +can throw a rope," he added, as he looked at the lariats. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," assented Bud. "You stay here, Nort." +</P> + +<P> +They left him on the shore, as I call the rocky edge of the pool, with +a lantern, and, taking other lanterns with them, the little party set +out. It took them only about three minutes to walk across to the great +rock, which stood upright in the middle of the cavern floor. +</P> + +<P> +Rising up in almost the very centre was the heavy, copper lever. By +the light of the lanterns it was examined, and seen to extend down +through the rock, whither no one knew. +</P> + +<P> +"It works a water gate all right," declared Old Billee. "Let's pull it +back to where you found it, Bud, and see what happens." +</P> + +<P> +It was with some feelings of apprehension that the others watched as +Old Billee reached for the copper lever and pulled it toward him, It +operated as easily as it had for Bud. +</P> + +<P> +And almost as quickly as had taken place on the other occasion, there +was that roaring, rumbling sound, a noise as of the blowing of a great +wind, and then the waters began to rush back into the pool. +</P> + +<P> +"Here they come!" yelled Dick, as he stood beside Bud on the rock. +</P> + +<P> +Truly the waters were returning as the hidden gate was closed when +Billee pulled the lever. +</P> + +<P> +Would they go down again? +</P> + +<P> +That was what each one asked himself. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CONSPIRATORS +</H3> + +<P> +Rapidly rushing, foaming, bubbling and boiling, the waters rushed into +the mysterious cavern, until they again filled the pool across which +Bud and Dick had swam to the rescue of Nort on the rock. Now the +situation was reversed. It was Nort who was on the mainland, or shore, +so to speak, and the others who were on the rock. +</P> + +<P> +But it was one of their own choosing, in an endeavor to solve the +mystery, though as Bud and his companions watched the waters creeping +higher and higher up the surface of the rock on which they stood, their +hearts were not altogether easy. +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose it covers the rock?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we'll have to swim back where Nort is," Bud answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Shucks! You won't have to do nothin' of the sort!" declared Old +Billee stoutly. "She won't come up any farther than it did before!" +</P> + +<P> +And he was right. When the water around the rock lapped the erosion +mark, which had been worn in the hard stone by centuries of the flow of +the fluid, the flood ceased. The roaring, bubbling and seething, like +that which takes place in a canal lock, came to an end, and the water +of the pool became quiet. +</P> + +<P> +"There! What'd I tell you?" cried Old Billee. "I closed th' water +gate, that Bud opened to let th' water out, an' she come back. Now all +we have t' do, so we can walk back, is t' yank this lever again." +</P> + +<P> +"Does it only work two ways?" asked Yellin' Kid, his voice again +softened, as the mystery of the place seemed to cast a shadow over him +and the others. +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to," Bud answered, holding his lantern down close to where the +copper handle entered the rock. +</P> + +<P> +There appeared to be a slot cut in the hard stone—a slot about three +inches wide, and a foot long, in which the copper lever could be moved +backward and forward, but not from side to side. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's try the other way, now," suggested Dick. +</P> + +<P> +Once again Old Billee pulled on the copper shaft, which, as they could +see by the light of all their lanterns combined, seemed to have been +rudely hammered out, for it bore the rough marks of a primitive forge. +</P> + +<P> +And no sooner had the lever been pulled to its limit in the slot than +there sounded again the rushing, roaring tumult of noises, and, after a +little, the water began receding once more. +</P> + +<P> +"We've discovered the secret!" cried Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"No, only part of it," said Bud. "We've got to find where the water +goes, and if pulling this lever sends it into our reservoir. That's +the main thing to discover." +</P> + +<P> +"But we're on the track of part of it," went on Dick. "I wonder who +built this secret water gate, and the lever that operates it?" +</P> + +<P> +"It may be part of the work of the ancient Mexicans, the old Indians or +the Aztecs, who inhabited this land ages ago," said Bud. "Copper will +last almost forever, you know, even in water, as it doesn't rust. And +you've read how the ancient Aztecs used to build great vaults under the +mountain, and arrange to flood them to keep their gold away from the +Spaniards." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I've read of that," admitted Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, where can you get a book like that?" demanded Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got one at the camp," Bud answered. "I'll let you take it. Of +course my theory may be all wrong," he went on. "But I begin to +believe we've stumbled on some ancient Aztec water system." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't mean to say those old Mexicans, for that's what the Aztecs +were, are still hanging around in this cave, turning your water on and +off, do you?" demanded Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"No, it's some one more modern who's making trouble for us," Bud +declared. "But we're on the track of a big discovery, I believe. +Look, the water is almost gone!" +</P> + +<P> +This was true. The pool was emptying itself as it had done before, +and, in a short time they could walk back to where Nort awaited them. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the next thing to do?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Get back where we left our grub and feed our faces," suggested Snake +Purdee. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I think that will be best," Bud said. "Then we can talk over the +next move. I begin to feel hungry." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope we won't be disappointed," remarked Yellin' Kid and his vocal +powers seemed to be on the mend, for he called loudly. +</P> + +<P> +"Disappointed? How?" asked Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"I mean I hope we find our grub where we left it," Kid explained. +</P> + +<P> +"Why wouldn't it be there?" Old Billee wanted to know. "Do you think +them Hatchet-texts have sneaked in and took it?" +</P> + +<P> +"You mean Aztecs?" laughed Yellin' Kid. "No, I wasn't referrin' to +them. I mean I hope our monkeyin' with that copper handle didn't send +the flood over the place where we left our things." +</P> + +<P> +"I never thought of that," said Bud. "By Zip Foster! I hope nothing +like that <I>has</I> happened!" +</P> + +<P> +With anxious hearts they hastened back to the place where Nort had been +swept away. They had left the strange lever set to drain the pool, and +what state of affairs they would find on returning to their point of +digression no one could say. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe we'll find the water running on into Flume Valley," suggested +Nort, who seemed to be almost himself again, except for a feeling of +weakness. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope so," spoke Bud. +</P> + +<P> +But this was not the case. On reaching the place where the tunnel +branched, they found no water there at all. None was running in the +main channel, and none was turning off down the "stem of the T," to use +the illustration I first employed. +</P> + +<P> +"Keeps on being strange, doesn't it!" said Bud. +</P> + +<P> +They all agreed with him. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the next move?" asked Dick, as they gazed about, finding their +food and supplies safe, and no water, to mention, anywhere about. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's grub!" suggested Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"And make a fire and heat the coffee," urged Bud. "I don't believe the +smoke will do any harm, and there's plenty of dry driftwood in the +higher places, and on little ledges." +</P> + +<P> +"Some hot coffee would go down mighty well!" remarked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you're going to have it!" asserted his cousin. They had brought +some of the cold beverage along in tin flasks, and these were soon +heating over a little blaze that was kindled along the bank of the +underground stream that was again dry. +</P> + +<P> +The food and hot drink put new hearts into all of them, especially +Nort, and when appetites were appeased they gathered about the +cheerful, if small, blaze, which gave off scarcely any smoke, and held +a discussion. +</P> + +<P> +"What I think we had better do," said Bud, "is to travel on until we +come to the place—if such a place there is—where this stream again +shunts off to the side. For I'm sure there is such a place if we find +that the water is running into the tunnel from the river." +</P> + +<P> +"We can't be sure of that, though," Old Billee said. +</P> + +<P> +"No, but we can find out when we get to the other end of the tunnel," +declared Bud. "My idea is—though, of course, I might be wrong—that +there are two side passages, so to speak. Sometimes the water branches +off the main channel and fills the pool where we found Nort on the +rock. Then it may flow down another channel, farther on, but nearer to +the river end of the tunnel." +</P> + +<P> +"But if the water came along the main channel, until it got here, and +then filled the pool to the limit, as was evidently the case," +suggested Nort, "why wouldn't the water then back up and go on to our +reservoir—and it didn't do that." +</P> + +<P> +"There may be some outlet from that pool and cavern where we were," +said Bud. +</P> + +<P> +They considered this for a moment, and agreed that he might be right. +</P> + +<P> +"Then what we've got to look for," went on Bud, "is another side +passage where the water is shunted off, that is, providing it is not +cut off at the river pipe. And if there is such a passage it must be +on the right-hand side of the stream, as was the one where Nort fell +in. For we went all along the left-hand bank the other time, and +didn't discover anything." +</P> + +<P> +"And suppose we find the second branch stream now—what will we do?" +asked Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"Two of us will come back and work the lever, while the others stay at +the second stream to see what happens," was Bud's answer. "Come on; +let's go!" +</P> + +<P> +They put out the fire, packed their belongings, and, making sure that +Nort was able to travel, they set out again. Nort's garments were +soaking wet, or, rather, they had been, but there was a current of warm +air in the tunnel, and soon he began to dry out, for which he was very +thankful. +</P> + +<P> +They found the second branching stream sooner than they expected. It +was less than a quarter of a mile from the first, or the one into which +Nort had fallen, and it was almost of exactly the same character. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out! Here it is!" cried Bud who saw it first, his lantern +gleaming on the swiftly-rushing water. "Go easy!" +</P> + +<P> +And "easy" they went, reaching the edge of the ledge below which flowed +the mysterious, powerful current. +</P> + +<P> +"We can go along here, just as we did before. Here's another branch +tunnel!" announced Dick, holding up his lantern, and showing a wide, +high passage, the bottom and middle part of which was occupied by the +stream. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder how many of them there are?" remarked Nort as he and the +others turned into the black opening, which seemed to slope as though +descending a hill. This gave greater force to this stream of water. +</P> + +<P> +"And I wonder if it also runs into a cavern, with a rock and a copper +lever in the middle!" voiced Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Hope we find out soon," spoke Bud. "This is getting more and more +queer all the while." +</P> + +<P> +They tramped on in the blackness that was relieved only by their +swaying lanterns. They walked beside the strange, underground stream, +and they had progressed farther than along the other branching body of +water when Old Billee, who was ahead just then, suddenly halted and +uttered a warning. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen!" +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" asked Yellin' Kid, in his usual tones, but Billee reached +back and gave him such a dig in the ribs that Kid subsided with a grunt. +</P> + +<P> +"I hear talkin'!" whispered Billee. "Voices! There's some one else in +this place than us! Listen!" +</P> + +<P> +They stopped and strained their sense of hearing. And then, above the +slithering murmur of the water, they all distinctly heard a voice say: +</P> + +<P> +"I think we've fixed 'em this time! They won't steal any more water +from Pocut River!" +</P> + +<P> +The boy ranchers looked at each other. +</P> + +<P> +"Del Pinzo!" whispered Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"As sure as Zip Foster ever ate ham and eggs!" agreed Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Hush!" begged Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +And as they became quiet again they heard another voice say: +</P> + +<P> +"I guess it's all up with 'em now. We might as well light out and +touch off the fuse!" +</P> + +<P> +"Whew!" softly whistled Bud. +</P> + +<P> +Together the party of searchers moved softly forward. Suddenly the +passage along the bank of the mysterious stream turned sharply, almost +at a right angle. +</P> + +<P> +And there, in what appeared to be a small cave, excavation or cavern, +high in the upper wall was disclosed a roughly circular opening, like a +window or port hole. Through this port hole a light showed, and +outlined in the light were several rough-appearing men, leaning +together over what might have been a table. +</P> + +<P> +"Del Pinzo!" murmured Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Conspirators!" exclaimed Bud. "They're the ones that's been turning +this water on and off! We're on the track of the mystery now!" +</P> + +<P> +Whether he spoke loudly enough to be heard, or whether some other sound +made by the searchers alarmed the men in the upper niche, was not +disclosed just then. +</P> + +<P> +But the light suddenly went out, and confused sounds followed. +</P> + +<P> +And chief among these sounds was the rushing, roaring noise, the +blowing as of a mighty wind, and the water near the boy ranchers and +their companions was strangely agitated. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A POWERFUL STREAM +</H3> + +<P> +"Better look out!" came the high-pitched voice of Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +"There may be a flood here!" added Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't we get those rascals?" cried Snake Purdee. "I'd 'a' had th' +drop on 'em in another second if they hadn't doused that glim!" +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke they could all hear the rush of iron-nailed shoes when the +wearers of them scrambled over hard rocks in their effort to escape. +</P> + +<P> +Mingled with that sound was the strange one of rushing water. +Realizing that danger might come to them more through the agency of the +strangely-acting underground stream than from the actions of the +conspirators, Bud and Nort flashed their lanterns on the water-course +behind them and around the bend which they had turned to behold the +strange scene. +</P> + +<P> +"It's going down!" cried Bud, for there was no longer any advantage in +concealment or silence, as long as Del Pinzo and the others had fled. +"It's receding!" +</P> + +<P> +"Just as the other did!" added Dick. "They must have opened a gate +here and let the water out!" +</P> + +<P> +"They've done something!" cried Bud, "and we've got to find out what it +is." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you hear that about a fuse?" demanded Snake. "Maybe they're going +to blow the place up!" +</P> + +<P> +"If they do, and the tunnel caves in, good-bye to my water!" said Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and good-night to <I>us</I>!" grimly added Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on!" cried Yellin' Kid. "Let's see what's up there in that hole +in the wall, anyhow!" +</P> + +<P> +"And have your guns ready!" warned Snake Purdee. +</P> + +<P> +However, as it developed, the weapons were not needed. When the boy +ranchers and their friends managed to scramble up the rocky way, above +and to the right of the second hidden, branching stream, and found +themselves in what was virtually a little natural recess hollowed out +of the rocky wall, they saw that it was deserted. +</P> + +<P> +But there were plain evidences of the fact that the men they had seen +had fled in a hurry, as, indeed, they had practically witnessed. +Playing cards, cigarettes, tobacco and bottles were scattered on a rude +wooden table, and there were several candle-ends stuck in the necks of +flasks. The smell of the extinguished candles was heavy on the air. +</P> + +<P> +"But where did they go?" asked Bud, when a hasty glance around the +rocky room disclosed no occupants. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" asked Dick, pointing to what seemed to be a hole in the +floor at one corner. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a passage!" cried Billee, holding his lantern above it. "An' big +enough, even for me! I'm going down!" +</P> + +<P> +"Will it be safe?" asked Nort. "It may lead into the stream, or to +where they have planted a mine—they spoke of a fuse——" +</P> + +<P> +"You've got to take chances in times like these!" declared Old Billee. +"I guess if they went down it will suit us." +</P> + +<P> +"Unless they can close it up, or turn water in," suggested Snake, +dubiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Git out! I'm going down!" stoutly declared the rather fleshy veteran +cow puncher, and when he let himself down the hole the others followed. +</P> + +<P> +There was a natural stairway, or what served the same purpose, leading +down out of the stone room where the conspirators had been evidently +plotting so far underground. The passage went down, at first, like a +flight of steep, cellar stairs. Then it straightened out, and, after +twists and turns, led upward. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are we going?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Nobody knows!" grimly answered Bud. "But it's safe so far!" +</P> + +<P> +"And we're right on their trail!" added Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know?" asked Billee. +</P> + +<P> +For answer Snake paused and pointed to a smouldering cigarette stub on +the rocky floor of the passage that had led out of the conspirators' +niche. +</P> + +<P> +"That wasn't dropped many minutes ago," declared the cowboy. "They +came along here." +</P> + +<P> +This was evident, but it was also evident that Del Pinzo and his +conspirators were sufficiently in advance to escape. For, with another +sudden turn, the passage led to another natural, rocky stairway, and +when this had been mounted the boy ranchers found themselves again in +the main tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +"What's this?" cried Bud, when it was evident that they had come back +to the place whence they had started, but farther on, and nearer to the +river end of the tunnel. "This is a regular maze!" +</P> + +<P> +"But where is Del Pinzo?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Out there, I fancy," and Nort pointed to where the main tunnel +extended under the mountain and beyond, to the dam in Pocut River. +"They've gotten away!" +</P> + +<P> +"And about time, too!" added Snake, "or they'd be trapped as we may be!" +</P> + +<P> +"Trapped!" cried Old Billee. "What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"I mean there's a mine set here, somewhere! Don't you smell powder +smoke?" +</P> + +<P> +A sharp, acrid odor, once smelled never forgotten, came to the nostrils +of all as they stood there in the tunnel, while the stream flowed +beside them. Whatever the conspirators had done, they had, evidently, +not shut off all the water. +</P> + +<P> +"There it is!" cried Dick, and he pointed to where, in the light of the +lanterns, there could be seen, slowly ascending, a thin wisp of smoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out!" yelled Old Billee as Dick dashed forward. "It may explode!" +</P> + +<P> +Then, as Dick rushed up with his lantern, they saw trailing over the +floor of the tunnel, and on the same side of the stream as themselves, +a thin white fuse, like a sinister snake. It was this burning fuse +which caused the smoke. +</P> + +<P> +It was the work of but an instant for Dick to step on it, and +extinguish the smouldering spark, while it yet had some distance to +travel before the fuse lost itself in a mass of rocks. +</P> + +<P> +"Whew! That was a close call!" exclaimed. Bud, when the fuse was +entirely out. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's see where it leads to," suggested Snake. +</P> + +<P> +They followed it up, and discovered a hidden mine of explosives, tamped +down into a hole that had been drilled in the rocky floor. Iron bars, +hammers and other mining implements showed that the perpetrators of the +dastardly deed had evidently fled in a hurry. +</P> + +<P> +"They were going to blow up the tunnel!" cried Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"And when that collapsed it would mean the end of Flume Valley," spoke +Bud soberly. +</P> + +<P> +"We never could have opened the tunnel again, with all these strange, +branching streams playing around inside." +</P> + +<P> +"But we reached here just in time!" declared Old Billee. "Now let's +get t' th' bottom of this. We know there's a main stream, an' two +branching streams. One of th' branching streams is controlled by th' +water gate with th' copper handle." +</P> + +<P> +"And there must be another gate here, or else Del Pinzo and his crowd +couldn't have shut off the water as they did before they ran away," +went on Bud. "There must be a whole maze of water-courses in this old +tunnel. Probably the Aztecs dug 'em to save their gold and other +valuables. But I'd like to know what that roaring is?" and as Bud and +the others listened they could hear a subdued murmur, a rumbling and +roaring sound, that seemed to shake the whole tunnel near where they +stood. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe this leads to it," suggested Dick, as he walked along and +suddenly flashed his lantern across another opening—a natural stairway +leading down into black depths. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's try it," said Bud. +</P> + +<P> +Down it they went, one at a time, carrying their lanterns. And as they +advanced, descending until they came to a level passage, the murmur and +roaring became louder. +</P> + +<P> +"Would you look at that!" suddenly cried. Bud, in an awe-stricken +voice, as he came to a stop and pointed ahead. +</P> + +<P> +And then, as the others gathered about him and looked, they saw a +wondrous sight. +</P> + +<P> +They had entered a cavern, similar to the one where Nort had been +found, but not so large. And from the very centre, it appeared, of the +uneven rocky floor of the cave there spouted out a stream of water +about three inches in diameter. +</P> + +<P> +Solid white was this stream of water, like a bar of glass, and it shot +out of a round hole in the floor as a stream comes from the nozzle of a +fire hose. It was inclined at an angle of about forty-five degrees, +was this strange stream of water, and whence it came and whither it +went to the boys and their friends could only guess. +</P> + +<P> +It was this powerful, rushing stream, under immense head and power it +seemed, that caused the rumbling, roaring sound. It appeared to strike +against some rocky wall a long distance off, so far that the light of +the lanterns could not penetrate to it, and the searchers did not feel +like venturing beyond the point where the terrific stream issued. +</P> + +<P> +That it was of awful power was evidenced a moment later, for Bud, who +had picked up one of the bars of iron, used by the conspirators to set +their sinister mine, approached the stream and, raising the bar, +brought it down with all his force on the white, spurting jet. +</P> + +<P> +On an instant the heavy rod was torn from his grasp, and whirled +forward into the blackness beyond. There was a ringing, metallic sound +as it hit some distant rock, and then it came bounding back, sliding +across the rocky floor to the very feet of the searchers. +</P> + +<P> +"Look at that!" murmured Bud, as he stooped and picked up the bar. It +was bent and twisted into a sort of combined S and U shape, mute +evidence of the terrific power of the stream. +</P> + +<P> +"That would bore right through a man!" said Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Like making a hole in cheese!" added Old Billee. "This is a terrible +place! Let's get out!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HAPPY VALLEY +</H3> + +<P> +Leaving behind them the roaring, rumbling jet of white water that came +from the unknown and went thitherward, the boy ranchers and their +friends made their way back to the main tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, there are two things we have to settle," declared Bud, when they +had sat down on convenient rocks, near the running stream, and began to +consider matters. +</P> + +<P> +"What are they?" asked "Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"One is, what effect has the turning of that lever we worked on the +main stream? The other is, where is the lever that Del Pinzo and his +gang shifted to cause this second branch stream to stop running?" +</P> + +<P> +"And when we find answers to those two questions," said Dick, "I think +we'll have solved the mystery." +</P> + +<P> +"Right!" cried Bud. "So let's get at them. In the first place some of +us will go back and shift the lever on the big rock in the first cave, +while some of us stay here to see what happens." +</P> + +<P> +The party was divided and when watches had been adjusted to mark the +same time, so it might be known how many minutes elapsed between the +shifting of the lever and any noticeable effect, Dick, Old Billee and +Snake went to the first cave—that of the huge boulder. +</P> + +<P> +It did not take long to demonstrate that when the water flowed from the +main stream into that side branch, the stream nearer the river end of +the tunnel went dry. But even with that no water passed along the main +tunnel so that it would flow into the reservoir of Flume Valley. +</P> + +<P> +"The water must flow out of the first big cave by some outlet we know +nothing about," decided Bud. "Now we'll look for the second water +gate." +</P> + +<P> +They found the lever that controlled this in a corner of the upper, +rocky room where Del Pinzo and his conspirators had been plotting when +discovered. And when this lever was pulled from the position in which +the seekers found it after the Mexican half-breed fled, the second +stream (by which I mean the one nearest the river end of the tunnel) +filled with water. But this did not affect the first. +</P> + +<P> +And not until both levers were set at positions which caused the branch +streams to empty, did any water fill the end of the tunnel near Bud's +ranch. +</P> + +<P> +But when this had been done; when the secret of working the levers was +discovered, and water was once again flowing along the valley end of +the tunnel, where the stream bed had been dry for two days, then Bud +cried: +</P> + +<P> +"The fight is over and we've won!" +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't say that yet," spoke Old Billee cautiously, "Del Pinzo an' +Hank Fisher are still around an' above ground. But I guess you've put +a crimp in 'em, boys!" +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon!" shouted Yellin' Kid. "But are we sure that the water now +goes to Flume Valley?" +</P> + +<P> +"We'll soon find out," declared Bud. "We're almost out of the tunnel +now, and we can 'phone back and ask." +</P> + +<P> +And a little later they did emerge from the mysterious underground +tunnel, with its still stranger water courses. But what was their +surprise to find that night had fallen—in fact it was not exactly +night, but nearly morning of the next day. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment coming out into the dark night bewildered them. And then, +as they stood at the mouth of the mysterious tunnel under the mountain, +there was a sharp crack. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out!" yelled Bud, as a bullet "zinged" viciously over their heads. +</P> + +<P> +In an instant Old Billee had whipped out his gun and sent a shot toward +a group of horsemen along the river bank. +</P> + +<P> +"There they are! Del Pinzo and his gang!" yelled Dick, as another +bullet sang over his head. "Come on! Let's get 'em!" +</P> + +<P> +"No use!" drawled Snake. "They've got hosses—we ain't!" +</P> + +<P> +And a moment later the gang of conspirators, firing another harmless +shot, swept out of view. +</P> + +<P> +A group of men swarmed from the store and adjacent shacks, roused by +the early-morning shooting, and with amazement they greeted our friends +and heard the strange story. +</P> + +<P> +"What day is it?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Friday," some one answered. +</P> + +<P> +The mystery-solvers looked at one another in amazement. +</P> + +<P> +They had been in the tunnel nearly forty-eight hours without sleep, nor +did they feel the need of it, so exciting were the events that +transpired. +</P> + +<P> +But late, or, rather, early as it was, they managed to get in the store +to use the telephone. And when the gray dawn was breaking across Pocut +River, Bud learned, over the wire, from one of his father's cowboys +left at Flume Valley, that the reservoir was again being filled. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurray! It's all right!" yelled Bud, almost as loudly as the Kid +would have done. "I guess, from now on, we'll have no trouble. But +I'm going to see if we can't get Del Pinzo. He and his gang certainly +tried to blow up the place, and us with it." +</P> + +<P> +"To say nothing of trying, as I believe, to drown, us like rats in +there, by shutting off and turning on those queer streams," added Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think they really meant to drown us or blow us up?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +That question was never answered, for Del Pinzo and his more intimate +associates disappeared after their flight from the tunnel, when they +fled following the shifting of the lever and the lighting of the fuse. +</P> + +<P> +There was dynamite tamped in among the rocks, and but for the stamping +out of the fuse the tunnel never would have carried any more water to +Flume Valley, and those in it might never have come out. +</P> + +<P> +Hank Fisher stoutly denied that Del Pinzo was acting for him either in +planting the explosives or in shutting off the water from the reservoir +of the boy ranchers. But everyone had their suspicions. +</P> + +<P> +For that it was Del Pinzo who had sent, or caused to be sent the +mysterious warnings, no one doubted. Nor did anyone doubt but that the +vicious Mexican half-breed had played tricks with the water. +</P> + +<P> +For that is what they amounted to—tricks. Who built the +copper-lever-controlled water gates, putting them in to utilize the +winding underground streams, no one could tell. It may have been the +Aztecs. The powerful, slanting stream of water, it was discovered, +formed the outlet of the shunted-in-river stream when the two side +channels were opened so that Flume Valley's water supply was cut off. +</P> + +<P> +The water gates and the underground streams formed the chief mystery, +and these never could be fully explored. It was thought too dangerous. +How Del Pinzo discovered the workings of the levers, utilizing them to +try to end the rule of the boy ranchers in Flume Valley, was not +disclosed for many years. +</P> + +<P> +"You won't have any further trouble, now that the gates are closed and +the levers taken off," Mr. Merkel said, for that had been done. +"You'll get all the water you want in Flume Valley." +</P> + +<P> +"Guess I'll call it Happy Valley," said Bud, "for everything is coming +out right, now." +</P> + +<P> +"In spite of black rabbits!" chuckled Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, even with black jacks!" laughed Bud. "Everything is working +fine, now." +</P> + +<P> +And so it was. For with the discovery of the secret water gates and +the disappearance of Del Pinzo, the epidemic died away. Though this, +of course, was due to the arrest of Pocut Pete. +</P> + +<P> +That scoundrel was found guilty and sentenced to a long term in prison. +But he kept his counsel, and never actually confessed that it was Hank +Fisher who set him to this dastardly trick—if, indeed, it was that +unscrupulous ranchman of Double Z. +</P> + +<P> +That it was rustlers from Double Z who had tried to drive off some of +the boy ranchers' cattle was not doubted, the finding of the branding +iron being regarded as telltale evidence. But this was not enough to +cause any arrests. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what are we going to do next?" asked Dick, of his brother and +cousin, when they were fishing in the reservoir one evening, as, with +the closing of the hidden gates and the uninterrupted flow of the +water, many more finny prizes could be hooked. +</P> + +<P> +"Get ready for a big shipment of cattle," said Bud. "I never saw any +finer stock than we have here in Happy Valley. That's our next +move—reap the benefits of our hard work." +</P> + +<P> +But the lads did more than that. And those of you who wish to follow +their fortunes further may do go in the next volume of this series, +which will be called: "The Boy Ranchers on the Trail; or Diamond X +After Cattle Rustlers." +</P> + +<P> +"Who's that down at camp?" asked Dick, as he pulled up a good-sized +fish and put it beside him on the grass. +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like Nell and your mother," said Nort to Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"It is!" Bud cried. "They said they'd come over, and Nell promised to +bring a pie! Come on; we got enough fish!" +</P> + +<P> +And down the reservoir rushed the boy ranchers to greet their visitors. +</P> + +<P> +"Any pie, Nell?" cried Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure," was the answer. "But it's for company—Dick and Nort!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ho! I'd like to see 'em grab it all!" challenged Bud, as he reached +for the basket his sister held. "By Zip Foster I would!" +</P> + +<P> +"Say, who is Zip Foster anyhow?" demanded Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'll tell you—later!" chuckled Bud, and, as he removed the cover +of the basket, delighted "Oh!" and "Ah!" exclamations came from him and +his cousins at the sight within. +</P> + +<P> +Some of the cowboys came riding back to camp from the round-up, Old +Billee cheerfully chanting: +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, bury me deep on th' lone prairie!"<BR> +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +And with this happy mingling of the joyful and sad we will take leave +of the boy ranchers for a time. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES +<BR> +BY WILLARD F. BAKER +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors.</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>Stories of the great west, with cattle ranches as a setting, related +in such a style as to captivate the hearts of all boys.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +1. THE BOY RANCHERS <I>or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Two eastern boys visit their cousin. They become involved in an +exciting mystery. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +2. THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP <I>or The Water Fight at Diamond X</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Returning for a visit, the two eastern lads learn with delight, that +they are to become boy ranchers. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +3. THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL <I>or The Diamond X After Cattle +Rustlers</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Our boy heroes take the trail after Del Pinzo and his outlaws. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +4. THE BOY RANCHERS AMONG THE INDIANS <I>or Trailing the Yaquis</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Rosemary and Floyd are captured by the Yaqui Indians but the boy +ranchers trailed them into the mountains and effected the rescue. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +5. THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK <I>or Fighting the Sheep Herders</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Dangerous struggle against desperadoes for land rights brings out +heroic adventures. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +6. THE BOY RANCHERS IN THE DESERT <I>or Diamond X and the Lost Mine</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +One night a strange old miner almost dead from hunger and hardship +arrived at the bunk house. The boys cared for him and he told them of +the lost desert mine. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +7. THE BOY RANCHERS ON ROARING RIVER <I>or Diamond X and the Chinese +Smugglers</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The boy ranchers help capture Delton's gang who were engaged in +smuggling Chinese across the border. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WEBSTER SERIES +<BR> +By FRANK V. WEBSTER +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Mr. Webster's style Is very much like that of the boys' favorite +author, the late lamented Horatio Alger, Jr., but his tales are +thoroughly up-to-date. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>Cloth. 12mo. Over 200 pages each. Illustrated. Stamped in various +colors.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Only A Farm Boy <I>or Dan Hardy's Rise in Life</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The Boy From The Ranch <I>or Roy Bradner's City Experiences</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The Young Treasure Hunter <I>or Fred Stanley's Trip to Alaska</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The Boy Pilot of the Lakes <I>or Nat Morton's Perils</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Tom The Telephone Boy <I>or The Mystery of a Message</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Bob The Castaway <I>or The Wreck of the Eagle</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The Newsboy Partners <I>or Who Was Dick Box!</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Two Boy Gold Miners <I>or Lost in the Mountains</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The Young Firemen of Lakeville <I>or Herbert Dare's Pluck</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The Boys of Bellwood School <I>or Frank Jordan's Triumph</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Jack the Runaway <I>or On the Road with a Circus</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Bob Chester's Grit <I>or From Ranch to Riches</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Airship Andy <I>or The Luck of a Brave Boy</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +High School Rivals <I>or Fred Markham's Struggles</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Darry The Life Saver <I>or The Heroes of the Coast</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Dick The Bank Boy <I>or A Missing Fortune</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Ben Hardy's Flying Machine <I>or Making a Record for Himself</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Harry Watson's High School Day <I>or The Rivals of Rivertown</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Comrades of the Saddle <I>or The Young Rough Riders of the Plains</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Tom Taylor at West Point <I>or The Old Army Officer's Secret</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The Boy Scouts of Lennox <I>or Hiking Over Big Bear Mountain</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The Boys of the Wireless <I>or a Stirring Rescue from the Deep</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Cowboy Dave <I>or The Round-up at Rolling River</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Jack of the Pony Express <I>or The Young Rider of the Mountain Trail</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The Boys of the Battleship <I>or For the Honor of Uncle Sam</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers. New York. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE JEWEL SERIES +<BR> +BY AMES THOMPSON +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in colors.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>A series of stories brimming with hardy adventure, vivid and accurate +in detail, and with a good foundation of probability. They take the +reader realistically to the scene of action. Besides being lively and +full of real situations, they are written in a straight-forward way +very attractive to boy readers.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +1. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE VALLEY OF DIAMONDS +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Malcolm Edwards and his son Ralph are adventurers with ample means for +following up their interest in jewel clues. In this book they form a +party of five, including Jimmy Stone and Bret Hartson, boys of Ralph's +age, and a shrewd level-headed sailor named Stanley Greene. They find +a valley of diamonds in the heart of Africa. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +2. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE RIVER OF EMERALDS +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The five adventurers, staying at a hotel in San Francisco, find that +Pedro the elevator man has an interesting story of a hidden, "river of +emeralds" in Peru, to tell. With him as guide, they set out to find +it, escape various traps set for them by jealous Peruvians, and are +much amused by Pedro all through the experience. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +3. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE LAGOON OF PEARLS +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +This time the group starts out on a cruise simply for pleasure, but +their adventuresome spirits lead them into the thick of things on a +South Sea cannibal island. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. New York. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BOMBA BOOKS +<BR> +BY ROY ROCKWOOD +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. With colored jacket.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>Bomba lived far back in the jungles of the Amazon with a half-demented +naturalist who told the lad nothing of his past. The jungle boy was a +lover of birds, and hunted animals with a bow and arrow and his trusty +machete. He had a primitive education in some things, and his daring +adventures will be followed with breathless interest by thousands.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +1. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">_or The Old Naturalist's Secret_</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +In the depth of the jungle Bomba lives a life replete with thrilling +situations. Once he saves the lives of two American rubber hunters who +ask him who he is, and how he had come into the jungle. He sets off to +solve the mystery of his identity. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +2. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE MOVING MOUNTAIN +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">_or The Mystery of the Caves of Fire_</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Bomba travels through the jungle, encountering wild beasts and hostile +natives. At last he trails the old man of the burning mountain to his +cave and learns more concerning himself. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +3. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE GIANT CATARACT +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 0.5em">_or Chief Nascanora and His Captives_</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +From the Moving Mountain Bomba travels to the Giant Cataract, still +searching out his parentage. Among the Pilati Indians he finds some +white captives, and an aged opera singer who is the first to give Bomba +real news of his forebears. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +4. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON JAGUAR ISLAND +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 0.5em">_or Adrift on the River of Mystery_</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Jaguar Island was a spot as dangerous as it was mysterious and Bomba +was warned to keep away. But the plucky boy sallied forth and met +adventures galore. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +5. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE ABANDONED CITY +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">_or A Treasure Ten Thousand Years Old_</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Years ago this great city had sunk out of sight beneath the trees of +the jungle. A wily half-breed and his tribe thought to carry away its +treasure of gold and precious stones. Bomba follows. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Boy Ranchers in Camp, by Willard F. 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Baker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Boy Ranchers in Camp + or The Water Fight at Diamond X + +Author: Willard F. Baker + +Illustrator: Thelma Gooch + +Release Date: October 29, 2008 [EBook #27094] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + + + +[Frontispiece: "LOOK OUT!" QUICKLY YELLED NORT. "JUMP FOR YOUR LIVES! +IT'S A FLOOD!" "The Boy Ranchers in Camp."] + + + + + +THE + +BOY RANCHERS + +IN CAMP + + +OR + +_The Water Fight at Diamond X_ + + +By + +WILLARD F. BAKER + + + +Author of "The Boy Ranchers," "The Boy Ranchers on the Trail," etc. + + + +_ILLUSTRATED_ + + + +NEW YORK + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY + + + + +THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES + +By WILLARD F. BAKER + +12mo. Cloth. Frontispiece + + +THE BOY RANCHERS + or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X + +THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP + or The Water Fight at Diamond X + +THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL + or The Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY + +THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP + +Printed in U. S. A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE + II A NIGHT RIDE + III THE WARNING + IV A STRANGE REAPPEARANCE + V ANOTHER WARNING + VI TROUBLE AT SQUARE M + VII DOUBLING UP + VIII DRY AGAIN + IX A SHOT IN THE NIGHT + X INTO THE TUNNEL + XI THE RUSH OF WATERS + XII THE RISING FLOOD + XIII WHERE DID IT GO? + XIV A NIGHT ATTACK + XV THE BRANDING IRON + XVI QUEER ACTIONS + XVII "GERMS!" + XVIII ROPED! + XIX AN EXPEDITION IN THE DARK + XX INTO THE DEPTHS + XXI THE FIGURE ON THE ROCK + XXII THE WATER GATE + XXIII THE CONSPIRATORS + XXIV A POWERFUL STREAM + XXV HAPPY VALLEY + + + + +THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP + + +CHAPTER I + +A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE + +"Look out there, Bud! Look out! There you go!" + +"Side-stepping soap dishes! What's the idea? Whoa, there, Sock!" + +The pinto pony reared, swerved sharply to one side as a black streak +shot across the trail almost under his feet and then, when the animal +came to a sudden stop, there shot over his head the boy who had given +vent to the last exclamation. + +Bud Merkel came down sprawling on all fours in a bunch of grass which +served, in a great measure, to break the force of the catapult over his +pony's head. And then, as the lad righted himself and limped over to +catch his steed, he cried: + +"What in the name of the petrified prune pie was that, Billee?" + +"A jack, Bud! A jack rabbit, and as black as gunpowder! Yo' shore are +in for some bad luck, now!" + +"Bad luck! I should say so! Almost breaking my neck, and laming +Sock," and the lad looked anxiously at his pinto, being relieved to +find, however, that the animal had suffered no harm. + +"But this won't be all!" declared Billee Dobb. "I never see a black +jack shoot in front of a man yet that bad luck didn't follow!" + +"Well, let's make it go some to catch us!" suggested Bud as he leaped +to the saddle, after making sure that the girths were tight. "Black +jack! First one I ever saw," and he looked off in the distance toward +a streak of dust, which was all that now represented the frightened +rabbit that had shot across the trail so unexpectedly. + +"They aren't plentiful; thank your stars!" exclaimed the old cowboy. +"I'm glad it didn't happen to _me_." + +"Yes, if you'd a' toppled over your critter's head there'd be a bigger +crack in the ground!" laughed Bud, as he looked at his companion's +greater girth and weight. "It came as sudden as a flash of lightning, +that jack!" + +"Bad luck allers does come that-a-way," croaked Old Billee Dobb. + +"Oh, you and your bad luck!" laughed Bud. "Come on now, hump yourself! +Hump yourself, you old soap-footing specimen of a slab of saltpeter!" +he cried to his pony. "Mosey along!" + +"What's your rush, Bud? Anybody's take a notion t' think you was in +suthin' of a hurry, t' hear you talkin' that-a-way t' your critter," +remarked Billee as he ambled along behind his more impetuous companion. + +"Hurry, Billee? Of course I'm in a hurry!" admitted Bud, a tall, +well-tanned lad as he adjusted himself to his saddle, and dashed ahead +of his companion on the dusty trail. "I reckon you'd be in a rush, +too, if your cousins that you hadn't seen since last fall were coming +to camp all summer with you!" and Bud Merkel swung around in his +creaking saddle to note the pace of his companion. + +"Them two tenderfeet comin' out to Diamond X ag'in?" asked Old Billee +Dobb. + +"Course they are!" answered Bud. "But they're a long shot from being +tenderfeet, now, since they helped get rid of Del Pinzo and his +cattle-rustling gang, and did their share in solving the mystery of the +Triceratops. Tenderfeet! Guess you'd better not let 'em _hear_ you +call 'em that!" + +"Mebby not, son! Mebby not!" agreed Old Billee, rather mildly as he +tried to urge his slower-going animal to keep pace with Bud's. For the +pinto, responding to the spur of voice and heel, had shot ahead. "I +sorter forgot your cousins did have a hand in the lively doin's at +Diamond X last season. So they're coming out again, be they?" + +"Yes, and we're going to make a camp of it, over in Flume Valley. I'm +going to raise there the finest bunch of steers you ever hazed to the +stock yards, and Nort and Dick are going to help me. I'm riding to +meet them now at the water-hole, and we're going back to stay all +summer in Flume Valley." + +"Hum! Flume Valley!" mused the older cowboy, for both riders were of +that class, though Bud Merkel was the son of the man who owned Diamond +X, and other important western ranches. "Flume Valley! That's where +your paw started that irrigation scheme; ain't it?" + +"Yes," replied Bud. "It was only a waste bit of land before dad ran +the water through the tunnel-flume from Pocut River, but now it grows +the best grass you ever rolled your bed in. And the steers--you ought +to see 'em, Billee!" + +"Well, I'm aimin' to, right soon," responded the old man. "Your paw +was sayin' suthin' about putting me over there, but I didn't pay much +attention to it. So you and the eastern lads are going to camp in +Flume Valley, be you?" + +"Yes, because, being an experiment, dad didn't want to build any ranch +houses there yet. But if we make good on the deal, and can raise +steers on the grass that's grown since the water was let in, why, I'm +to have it for my own ranch, when I come of age, and Dick and Nort will +be my partners. We'll call it Diamond X Second." + +"Good name! Mighty good name! Look out there, you old piece of bacon +fat!" he called sharply to his animal, pulling the pony quickly up as +it stumbled. "There aren't any prairie dog holes here for you t' go +puttin' your foot in! What's the matter of yo'?" + +But though Old Billee and Bud spoke thus in seeming harshness to their +horses, there was no unkindness in their treatment of the animals. It +was just their picturesque, western manner of talking, and hardly had +the echo of Old Billee's words died away on the hot, dusty air than he +was gently patting the neck of the pony he rode. + +"Did dad say you were to help me over in Flume Valley?" asked Bud, as +he slowed down the pace of his animal to keep alongside that of the +older cowboy. + +"Yes, he said I was to be your helper. And first I sorter hated to +leave Babe, Slim, Snake and the rest of the bunch. But if you say your +cousins are coming out, and if we can raise better cattle there than on +the home ranch, why, mebby it won't be so worse." + +"Of course it won't!" cried Bud. "Why, even in the short time the +steers have been in Flume Valley, Billee, they've improved." + +"You say there's stock there now?" asked the old man, for he was +gray-haired, "Well, if they've been thrivin' by themselves so far, +what's the good of you an' your cousins campin' there to watch 'em eat?" + +"Lots of reasons," answered Bud, as he and his companion started up a +hill, on the other side of which they would reach the water-hole, where +the main trail from Diamond X came in. "For one thing this is +something new, and dad wants it watched carefully. Then, too, the +water pipe and reservoir will need looking after. But, more than +anything else, it's Del Pinzo and his gang of rustlers." + +"Those scoundrels didn't get what they deserved for tryin' to run off +our stock last year!" complained Billee. "Now they're raisin' ructions +again; be they?" + +"They sure are!" declared Bud. "It wasn't that they didn't get what +they deserved, for they were sentenced to long terms. But the trouble +was they didn't stay in jail where they were put." + +"I reckon they look at it just the other way!" chuckled Billee. + +"Yes," agreed Bud. "But it's going to make trouble for dad and all the +other cattle raisers around here having that bunch of Mexicans and +Greasers loose. That's one reason why we've got to watch out at Flume +Valley, where we're going to try to raise some cattle that will beat +those at Diamond X. I'm glad you're going to be with me, Billee." + +"Hum! You don't care what sort of trouble th' old man gits into; do +you, Bud?" and he smiled a toothless smile at his employer's son. +"Well, it's all in th' day's work, I reckon. But I'm not expected t' +come with you to-night; am I? Slim said I was to report t' him at the +main buildin's." + +"No, you don't have to come right away," replied Bud. "I'm to meet +Dick and Nort at the water-hole--they were due at our ranch this +morning--and you're to come when you can." + +"Might as well be quick as sooner," laughed the old cowboy. "I don't +take much to new-fangled notions. But orders is orders, I reckon." + +"Oh, there isn't so much new at Flume Valley," said Bud. "All it ever +needed to make one of the best places in this part of the country for +raising cattle was water. Now, since dad had the big pipe flume put in +from Pocut River, where it can fill the reservoir and water the grass +and the cattle at the same time, things are going to boom!" + +"They are to hear you tell 'em!" chuckled Billee. "Well, I wish you +all good luck, Bud, I'll help all I can. I'll be over to-night, if I +can make it, though it's some of a ride after a day's work." + +"Oh, I won't expect you," said Bud. "I've got everything all laid out +for the camp there. Nort and Dick will be with me, but we'll be on the +lookout for you to-morrow. Bring what things you need, and some grub. +And if my mother has any pies baked, just pack a few of them." + +"Only a _few_?" asked Billee, with a grin. + +"As many as Nell will let you take," laughed Bud. "But there's Nort +and Dick! Whoop! Oh, boy! Come a-runnin'!" and the young rancher +beat a tattoo with his heels on the sides of his steed, and raced down +the slope toward two other lads who, like himself, were attired in +conventional western costume. Old Billee pulled his steed to a halt +and watched the greetings. + +"It's a great thing to be young!" sighed the old man. "The greatest +thing in the world! But maybe I can do something yet! Only I don't +like that black jack--I shore don't! Never heard of anythin' but bad +luck followin' one of them nimble cusses! I don't like it for a cent!" + +"Well, here we are!" cried Nort Shannon, flinging his broad-brimmed hat +into the air, and catching it on the end of his .45 before the +headpiece could touch the ground. + +"Came right on time, too! Zip Foster couldn't 'a' made it better!" +joyously declared Bud, clapping his palm into that of Nort. + +"Haven't you run him off the ranch yet?" asked the other lad, who was +rather short and stout, not to say fat. + +"Run who off?" asked Bud. + +"Zip Foster!" repeated Dick. "Last I heard of him----" + +"Never mind _him_!" and Bud seemed somewhat annoyed at having mentioned +the name. "Oh, but I'm glad you fellows are here! Have a good trip? +Are you hungry? Did you have grub enough? Can you ride right out now? +How's everybody at my house?" + +Nort looked at his western cousin, and then, with a deliberate motion +pretended to mop his face free of some imaginary perspiration, brought +out by the rapid-fire questions on his cousin's part. + +"Say! Go a bit easy, will you, Bud?" he begged. "One at a time! Line +forms on this side!" + +"We're going right out with you, and everybody's fine!" answered Dick, +summing up matters. "Your father said we were to ride out and meet you +here at the water-hole. We've got as much of our outfits as we'll need +for a few days, and so let's mosey along. Oh, but it's great to be +back out west!"' + +"You got off a ripe one that time!" agreed Nort. "Who's that up +there?" he asked, pointing to the figure of a solitary horseman on the +hill down which Bud had ridden. + +"Looks like Yellin' Kid," commented Dick. + +"It's Old Billee," answered Bud. "He's going to be with us out at +Flume Valley. Did dad tell you of the new venture?" he asked his +cousins. + +"Yes, and it sounds good. Must have been quite a trick to bring water +from Pocut River, Bud." + +"Well, it would have been if Professor Wright hadn't showed dad how to +use an old underground water course for part of the way. Then it was +easy. And say--you ought to see what a difference water has made in +that valley! It was almost a desert before we irrigated." + +"I'm anxious to see it!" said Nort. + +"We can't get there any too soon to suit me," added Dick. "Just think! +We're going to be our own bosses--boy ranchers for fair!" + +"You intimated plenty that time!" cried Bud. "Well, let's hit the +trail!" + +The three boy ranchers started off, Nort and Dick accompanying Bud back +over the way the latter had come. As they rode up the hill Old Billee +passed on down another trail, leading to Diamond X proper. + +"Howdy, boys!" called the old cowboy from the distance to Nort and +Dick. "See you a bit later over at your own ranch!" he added, and +then, with a friendly wave of his hand, he went down into a little +swale, or valley, and was lost to sight. + +"Now for some good times!" cried Bud, as he rode between his two +eastern cousins, who had again come to spend the summer with him in the +great western outdoors. + +"If it's anything like last year we sure will have a bang-up vacation!" +declared Nort. + +"Well, I can't promise anything like that--with cattle rustling and +digging up animals ten million years old," laughed Bud. "But I think +we might have a little excitement." + +"How?" asked Nort and Dick eagerly. + +"Tell you later," promised Bud. + +They rode on, talking over old times and planning new ones, and as the +shadows began to lengthen they rode down into a triangular valley, at +one end of which a rude dam could be noticed, while, scattered over the +green carpeted floor, were hundreds of grazing cattle. + +"Say, this is some slick place!" cried Dick. + +"The best ever!" affirmed Nort. "And is this where we are to camp and +ranch it?" + +"Right here," declared Bud. "Course we haven't any ranch house yet. +But we've got a tent--there it is," and he pointed to a white canvas +shelter not far from the dam. + +"A tent! Oh, boy! better and better!" yelled Dick, as he urged his +pony forward. + +As the three boy ranchers neared their headquarters, represented by two +or three tents grouped together, there emerged from among them the +figure of a man on horseback. + +"There's old Buck Tooth," said Bud. + +"Who?" asked the eastern cousins. + +"Buck Tooth--a Zuni Indian that dad picked up somewhere. He's one of +the best herd-riders you'd want, and he and I are great friends. +Wonder what's the matter, though? He acts as though something had +happened." + +Bud pulled rein, to allow a better observation of the figure that was, +obviously, riding out to meet him. Nort and Dick also halted their +ponies. But Buck Tooth rode to meet them at great speed, sitting in +the saddle as though part of it and the horse. He rode in a manner +that made Nort and Dick envy him. + +"What's the matter, Buck?" asked Bud, as soon as the Indian was within +hailing distance. And then Nort and Dick could see why he was called +that. A large, yellow-stained tooth protruded from his mouth, giving +him not exactly a pleasant expression. + +"What's wrong, Buck, you ride so _pronto_ like?" demanded the young +western ranch boy. + +"Heap wrong!" came the answer in guttural tones. "You no shut off +water in pipe; eh?" + +"Shut off the irrigation water? I should say not!" cried Bud. "Why, +has anyone?" + +"Water no come! All gone! No run splash-splash now!" and Buck Tooth +waved his hand toward the reservoir made by a dam that curved out in a +half circle from the wall of natural rock. + +"The water gone!" cried Bud. "This is strange! Let's have a look!" + +He and his cousins rode at top speed to the reservoir that had +reclaimed Flume Valley from the semi-desert it had long been. +Dismounting, they climbed the slope and saw that from the great iron +pipe, which was wont to spout a sparkling stream, there came only a few +drops and trickles. + +"It's disappeared!" said Bud in a low voice. "The water has taken +another course! This means the end of Flume Valley, I reckon!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A NIGHT RIDE + +The boy ranchers stood looking down into the reservoir, which was +almost full of water, but which was slowly running out through the +different gates, some to concrete drinking troughs where thirsty cattle +congregated, and some to distant meadows where it supplied moisture for +the grass on which the steers of Diamond X Second fed. From the +slightly ruffled surface of the reservoir, as the evening wind blew +across the water, the gazes of Bud, Nort and Dick sought the faces of +one another. + +"This looks had!" murmured Bud, while Buck Tooth, the Zuni Indian, +grunted something in his own incomprehensible dialect. + +"What does it mean?" asked Nort, as he looked down the slope from the +reservoir to the group of tents that was to form the home of himself, +his brother and cousin for several months, while they were in camp. + +"It means the water supply, on which I depended to raise these steers, +has petered out," answered Bud, and there was a worried note in his +voice. + +"You mean stopped for good?" asked Dick. + +"I hope not," went on Bud. "But from what you can see--no water coming +through the pipe line that dad laid to the Pocut River--I should say +there was a break in it somewhere, and it will have to be fixed right +away--that is, if I'm to keep these cattle here," and he looked down +the valley where the bunches of steers were ever on the move, seeking +new places to feed, or coming to drink water from the supply flowing +out of the reservoir. + +"We seem to have struck a job right off the bat!" remarked Dick, as he +picked up a stone and tossed it into the reservoir. + +"Just as we did when we came west before, and had to jump out and help +the queer professors," added Nort. "But we're ready to go to work, +Bud. All you'll have to do is say the word and----" + +But Bud did not seem to be paying much attention to what his cousin was +saying. Instead his gaze followed that of his Zuni Indian helper. +Buck Tooth was looking off up the hill under which the big pipe ran to +the distant Pocut River on the other side of the mountain. And as Bud +and Buck Tooth looked, and as the gaze of Nort and Dick was bent in the +same direction, they all beheld a figure on the back of a fast-moving +pony, riding up the trail that led over Snake Mountain. + +"Who's that, Buck? See him!" yelled Bud. + +"No can tell. Old Billee, mebby!" grunted the Indian. + +"No! Old Billee just left me! He's back at the ranch house. But +that's a stranger, and I don't like strangers sneaking around my +ranch--especially when there's a break just happened to my pipe line!" +exclaimed Bud. "I'm going to look into this!"' + +"Hi there! Hold on a minute! I want to talk to you!" he yelled, +making a megaphone of his hands and directing it at the figure on the +back of the sturdy pony that was scrambling up the mountain trail. +"Wait a minute!" + +But this the stranger seemed unwilling to do. The watching group near +the reservoir saw him raise his quirt, or short whip, and bring it down +savagely on the back of the pony, which, already, was doing its best to +carry its master out of distance. + +Then, with a quick motion, Bud drew his .45, and though both Nort and +Dick saw him aim it high above the man's head, in order to shoot over +him, horse and rider went down in a tumbled heap at the sound of the +report, which followed as Bud pulled the trigger. + +"You've winged him!" cried Dick. + +"Shucks! Didn't mean to hit him--just shot to scare him!" declared +Bud. "But we'll have to see about it now! Come on!" he cried, and he +ran down the side of the reservoir to where he had left Sock, his pony, +followed by Dick and Nort who also headed for their steeds. + +"Hu!" grunted the Indian, as he came on down more leisurely. "No +water--man shot--new boys come--big time, mebby! Hu!" + +And Buck Tooth was more than right. Big times impended in Flume Valley. + +While Bud Merkel and his two cousins who had arrived from the east only +the day before were mounting their ponies, to ride up the side of Snake +Mountain, and seek the man Bud had shot, I shall have a chance to tell +my new readers something about the boy ranchers, and the volume that +immediately precedes this one. + +The book is entitled "The Boy Ranchers; or Solving the Mystery at +Diamond X." Norton, or Nort, and Dick, or Richard, Shannon were sons +of Mr. and Mrs. Thornton Shannon, and their home was in the cast. When +Mr. Shannon, the summer previous, had been obliged to make a trip to +South America, with his wife, he sent his sons to spend their vacation +at Diamond X, one of the western cattle ranches owned by Henry Merkel, +Mrs. Shannon's brother. + +Almost immediately on their arrival Nort and Dick, who were then +rightly classed as "tenderfeet," became involved in a strange mystery. +A call for help came, and they took part in the rescue of two college +professors who had been attacked by a band of Mexicans and "Greasers," +the latter being a low-class Mexican. + +The professors were rescued, but the mystery only deepened. What it +was, and how it came to be solved, you will find set down at length in +the first volume. Sufficient to say, here, that Nort and Dick, as it +were, "cut their eye teeth," during the exciting experiences that +followed their arrival at Diamond X. + +The eastern boys learned how properly to ride a pony cowboy fashion, +they learned the use of the branding iron, the lariat and "gun," as the +.45 revolvers were universally called. They learned, also, how to +"ride herd," "ride line" and how to live in the open, with the prairie +grass for a bed and the star-studded sky for a blanket, their saddle +forming the pillow. + +Mr. Merkel, Bud's father, owned several ranches besides Diamond X, so +named because that brand was used on the cattle from it. He had Square +M, and Triangle B, the explanation of which names are obvious. + +When it came time for Nort and Dick to return east, as winter +approached, they left, promising to return as soon as their summer +vacation should arrive, for they were determined to become boy ranchers +in earnest, an ambition in which Bud shared. + +Now it was summer again, and Nort and Dick had once more journeyed to +their uncle's ranch, to be met by Bud, as arranged, at the water-hole. +For between the two visits of the easterners some changes had been made +at Diamond X. + +Bud had been clamoring to be allowed to raise some cattle "on his own," +and his father had consented. Off to the north of Diamond X, and in a +depression between the Snake Mountains on the east and Buffalo Ridge on +the west, was another valley, well sheltered from the wintry blasts. +This valley was owned by Mr. Merkel, and though part of it was +timbered, and some scattered sections produced an excellent variety of +grass for stock, there was no dependable source of drinking water +available. And without water at hand it is impossible to raise cattle +in the west--or any place else, for that matter. + +How to get water to "Flume Valley," as it came to be called, was a +problem. It would have been put to use raising cattle long before this +had Mr. Merkel been able to get any water there for the animals to +drink, and also some to irrigate the more arid portions so that fodder +would grow. + +At the foot of the eastern slope of Snake Mountains ran the Pocut +River, which served to supply not only Diamond X, Square M and Triangle +B ranches with water, but also those of Double Z and Circle T, the +respective holdings of Hank Fisher and Thomas Ogden. But though Pocut +River gave plenty of water to Bud's father and the other ranchmen, none +was available for the isolated valley which, except for this, would +have been an ideal place to raise steers. + +And it was here that the good services of Professor Wright, one of the +scientists mentioned in the first volume, came into play. For +Professor Wright discovered an ancient underground water course, +connecting with Pocut River, and when this had been partly tunneled, +re-opened at places where it had caved in, and a big iron pipe laid +part of the way, water came gushing out into Flume Valley, as Bud +renamed the place, it having been called Buffalo Wallow before that +time; probably when there was water in it and the buffalo made it a +rendezvous. + +And when the water came through the iron pipe, falling into the +reservoir that had been built to hold it in reserve, Bud was allowed to +begin his experiment in stock raising. + +His father provided him with the cattle, and Bud was a boy rancher in +reality now. His cousins had agreed to help him in the venture on +their arrival, and Bud had been expecting them when he rode out with +Old Billee that day. Old Billee was one of the Diamond X cowboys, and +he might have been made a foreman, except that he had no executive +ability. He could do as he was told, and that was about all. He was +reliable and dependable, but had no initiative for big undertakings. +Old Billee, with Buck Tooth and some other cowboys, had been assigned +to help Bud in his venture. + +As Bud has told his cousins, when he rode to meet them at the +water-hole, on the trail from Diamond S ranch, there was no time, yet, +to construct ranch houses in Flume Valley. Tents would have to serve +the purpose, and the boys were rather pleased, than otherwise, with +this. + +"It will be just like camp!" said Bud. + +And so the easterners had arrived, and, almost with the moment of their +coming, there had begun the first act in what was to prove a drama of +almost tragic happenings. + +"You stay at the camp, Buck!" called Bud to the Zuni, as the three boy +ranchers mounted and prepared to ride up to where the unknown man had +collapsed after Bud had fired. "You stick around! Old Billee, or some +of the boys from Diamond X may ride over, though I don't expect them +until morning. Stay here, Buck!" + +"Me stick!" gutturally answered the Indian. "You catchum man +mebby--git back water." + +"Maybe," agreed Bud, as he and his cousins trotted off up the trail, +which wound around the reservoir and over the mountain. + +Dusk was falling as the boys reached the vicinity of the place whence +they had seen the lone rider emerge from the bushes, spurring his horse +up the rocky trail that led over Snake Mountain, as the whole ridge was +known. + +"Must have been about here," said Dick, as he reined in his steed, for +which the panting animal, doubtless, was grateful. + +"Little farther on, I think," said his brother. + +"No, it was right here," declared Bud, as he dismounted and began to +scan the ground. "Here's where his horse slipped," and he pointed to +the tell-tale marks on the trail. + +"Yes, and look--you hit him all right!" added Dick. + +He indicated some dull, red spots on the stones. Bud reached down and +gingerly touched them. + +"Blood!" he murmured. "Guess I did wing him--or the horse--but I don't +see how I could. I fired high." + +"But where did he go?" asked Nort, following the marks left by a horse +that had, obviously, been hard pressed. "See, the sign goes right up +to this rocky wall, and then stops. He couldn't have gotten up there, +could he?" + +"Not unless he wore wings," said Bud grimly. "But it's getting too +dark to see well. We'd better be getting back to camp." + +"I thought you were going to follow this up, and see what had happened +to your pipe line," suggested Dick. + +"I am, but we can't ride on without some grub. No telling what we may +stack up against. We'll have to make a night ride of it, I'm thinking, +and I'd like to have Buck Tooth along. He's a shark on following a +blind trail. Come on, we'll go back to camp, get some grub and then +take this up again. I hope I didn't kill him, though," murmured Bud, +as he again leaped to the saddle, an example followed by Nort and Dick. + +"Who was he?" asked the latter, puffing slightly from his exertions, +for he was much stouter than his brother Nort. + +"Search me!" replied Bud. "Looked mighty suspicious, though, the way +he rode off. And if he wasn't up to something wrong he'd 'a' stopped +when I hailed him." + +"Do you think he had anything to do with the break in the pipe?" asked +Nort. + +"You've got me again," confessed his western cousin. "We'll have to +make a night ride of it and find out." + +They rode back to the camp tents, to find Buck Tooth calmly smoking his +red-stone Indian pipe, and gazing off in the darkening distance at +nothing at all, as far as the boys could determine. + +"Anybody been around, Buck?" asked Bud. + +"Nope!" was the answer. "You catchum dead man?" + +"Not a sign, Buck! Beckon he must have dug a hole and pulled it in +after him. But we've got to find out what's the matter with the pipe +line. There's only a few days' supply of water in the reservoir. +Rustle out some grub, and we'll ride over the mountain." + +"Um," grunted the Zuni, and a little later, after a hasty meal of +flapjacks, bacon and coffee, the boy ranchers, with the old Zuni +Indian, started on a night ride over the mountain trail, in the general +direction of the pipe line, the supply of fluid for which had so +mysteriously stopped. + +But strange events were only just beginning to happen in Flume Valley. +There were others in store for the boy ranchers. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE WARNING + +"Will it be safe to leave our camp alone, like this?" asked Nort, as he +and his companions rode off, leaving behind them the white tents, +gleaming in the wondrous light of a full moon. + +"Why not?" inquired Bud. "It won't walk away." + +"No, but some one might come in and take everything." + +"There isn't much worth taking. You brought your old stuff with you, +we have our ponies, so all they could snibby would be the camp dishes, +and they aren't worth the risk." + +"Could they drive off any of your cattle?" asked Dick. + +"Why don't you say _our_ cattle?" asked Bud with a smile, which was +plainly to be seen in the brilliant moonlight. "You fellows are in +this venture with me, you know." + +"We haven't yet gotten used to thinking of it that way," remarked Nort, +as he rode beside Buck Tooth. The old Zuni Indian managed to keep pace +beside the boys without ever urging his pony forward, a trick of riding +which even Bud envied. + +"Well, you'd _better_ get used to it," was the laughing retort. "Your +dad staked you to part of the expenses of this deal, same as mine did +me, and of course you'll share in the profits--if there are any," Bud +added rather dubiously. "And if we don't get that water back there +won't be enough to make you need a hat to carry 'em off." + +"As bad as that?" inquired Nort. + +"Oh, I'm not saying it's bad--_yet_!" exclaimed Bud. "There may be +just a stoppage in the pipe, which can easily be cleaned out. Or, it +may be--something else." + +But what else it might be he did not say, and Nort and Dick were not +sufficiently familiar with irrigation and flume lines to hazard a +guess. But they knew enough about their cousin to tell that he was +worried. + +"What do you plan to do?" asked Dick, as the four rode on, their ponies +occasionally stumbling as they mounted the rocky trail that led over +Snake Mountain. "Look for that man--the one you----" + +"The one I _didn't_ shoot!" interrupted Bud. "I'm as sure I didn't hit +him as I am that we four are here this minute. I know I fired too +high!" + +"Unless the bullet hit a rock and glanced down," suggested Nort. + +"Well, yes, that may have happened," admitted Bud. "But if he was +badly hurt he couldn't get away, as he did." + +"Could he have fallen into any hole or gully?" asked Dick. "We didn't +look for that." + +"He might have," admitted the western lad. "But what I'm looking for, +now, isn't that fellow, who may or may not be shot, but for the break +in my flume--that's what I want to locate. Once I get the water so +it's running back in my reservoir I'll feel better. For if there's a +permanent shut-off we might as well move out of Flume Valley," he went +on. "The cattle would just naturally die of thirst!" + +"Isn't there any water at all?" asked Nort, as he pulled his pony up +sharply when the animal stumbled. + +"Not enough to water all the stock I aim to raise," answered Bud. "At +the far end of the valley--away from our camp--the grass grows pretty +well, for some rain does fall there once in a while. But there isn't a +water-hole worth the name, and you know what happens to cattle when +they can't get a drink!" + +"I should say so!" commented Nort, for he and his brother had seen some +of the terrible suffering caused by animals having to be driven long +distances without any water being available. "Then the pipe line is +your only hope?" + +"That, and the ancient underground watercourse it connects with to +bring water from the Pocut River," replied Bud. "You see, there's a +sort of natural tunnel under the mountain, and this was once an old +river bed. I suppose, or at least Professor Wright has told us, that +once this tunnel was full-up with water. But there was a change in the +direction of the old stream, and the water tunnel dried up. However, +it didn't cave in, except in a few places, and we now use it to bring +water to Flume Valley. There is really only a comparatively short +length of pipe at either end, one end being where the water from the +Pocut River enters, and the other where the pipe delivers the water to +our reservoir." + +"How are you going to find the break?" asked Dick. + +"Or stoppage?" suggested Nort. + +"Well, I aim to ride over the mountain tonight," answered Bud, "and see +if all is clear at the river intake end of the line. If it is, I'll +know there must be a stoppage, or break, somewhere inside the old water +tunnel." + +"How you going to find that?" inquired Nort. + +"Why, we'll get lanterns and ride through," replied Bud. "That's easy!" + +"Ride through an underground river!" cried Dick. "You can't!" + +"No, we couldn't if the old underground river course was _full_," +agreed Bud, "but it _isn't_. There's only a comparatively small amount +of water flowing through the old course, which is wide enough for two +of us to ride or walk abreast, and twice as high as you need. I've +ridden through more than once. It's like a long, natural tunnel under +the mountain, with water flowing in the center depression, so to speak." + +"Must be rather spooky inside there," suggested Nort. + +"It is a little; and it's nearly an all-day's ride. But it's the only +way to find the trouble. Professor Wright said that some day the water +might work through, and go off on a new course, and in that case I'd be +dished until I could stop up the break." + +"Well, we'll help all we can," offered Nort. + +"Sure thing!" echoed his brother. + +"We'd better take it a bit easy now," spoke Bud, as the ascent of the +mountain became more steep. "We don't want to wind the ponies, and we +may have a hard day ahead of us to-morrow." + +"It _is_ quite a climb," admitted Nort. "Are we going to ride all +night?" + +"No, we'll turn in about midnight," said Bud. "But this will give us a +start so we can get to the Pocut River end of the flume by morning. We +can stop any time you fellows want to." + +"Oh, we aren't tired!" Dick hastened to say, a sentiment with which his +brother agreed. "This is as much fun as riding herd, and driving off +the cattle rustlers." + +"Glad you like it," commented Bud. "And the rustlers might as well +drive off our stock, if we don't soon get this water to running again. +Old Billee said I'd have bad luck when that black rabbit crossed my +path, and it sure is coming!" + +"What black rabbit was that?" asked Nort, curiously. + +"One that gave me a tumble when I was riding to meet you," answered +Bud. "I never saw one before, and I don't want to again. Not that I'm +superstitious, but there sure is something queer about _this_! I don't +like it for a cent!" + +The boy ranchers and the Zuni Indian rode on, mounting higher and +higher along the mountain trail, heading for the summit. And when they +reached it, and Bud, by a glance at his watch, announced that it was +midnight, he followed with the suggestion that they camp there for the +remainder of the night. + +"We can make the rest of the trip in a couple of hours, for it's down +hill," he said. + +"Camp suits me," murmured Nort, and soon, after a bite to eat, they +rolled themselves in their blankets, having tied the ponies to scrub +bushes, and went to sleep. The riding of the boys, coupled with the +pure air they had breathed, brought them slumber almost at once, and +even Buck Tooth, alert as he usually was, neither saw nor heard +anything of the sinister visitor who came softly upon the sleeping ones +during the night hours. + +For there did come a visitor in the night, as evidenced by a scrawled +warning, on a dirty piece of paper, fastened to a stubby tree by a +long, sharp thorn. + +It was this fluttering bit of paper that caught Dick's eye when he +awakened, rather lame and stiff, and stretched himself in his blanket +as the sun shone in his eyes next morning. + +"Hello!" he cried, taking a hasty look around to see if Bud had, +perchance, ridden away without awakening his companions, and had left +this note to tell them so. "What's the idea?" and then Dick noticed +that all three of his companions were stretched out near him, and the +four ponies were standing together not far away. + +"What idea?" asked Bud, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. + +"That special delivery letter," and Dick pointed to it. "Wasn't here +last night," he went on, "for I tied Blackie to that tree before I +staked him out. What is it?" + +Bud rolled out of his blanket, and took the piece of paper from the +tree. + +"It's a warning!" he announced. + +"A warning?" cried Nort and Dick, while Buck Tooth began making a fire. + +"Yes," went on the boy rancher. "Here's what it says: + +"'Don't take no more watter frum Pocut River if you want to stay +healthy!'" + +"Whew!" whistled Dick. "What does that mean?" + +"Just what I'd like to know," said Bud, and then all three boys +started, and looked toward the upward slope of the mountain, down which +they had partly descended. For there came rolling toward them a mass +of dirt and stones, indicating the approach of some one. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A STRANGE REAPPEARANCE + +Characteristic it was of Bud Merkel, being a son of the west as he was, +that his hand instinctively sought the leather holster whence protruded +the grim, black handle of his .45. But he did not draw the weapon, nor +did Nort or Dick pull theirs, which they had started to get out when +they noted Bud's action. + +For Bud smiled when he had a glimpse of the newcomer, and Buck Tooth, +who had glanced up from where he was making the fire, gave a grunt of +welcome. + +"Babe!" exclaimed Nort, as he recognized the fat assistant foreman of +Diamond X ranch. "Babe!" + +"Sure! Who'd you think it was?" came the smiling question. "Looks +like you had an idea it might be one of them rustlers that made trouble +when you fellers was here before! Eh? + +"Glad t' see you two _ex_-tenderfeet," and Babe Milton grinned broadly +as he accented the _ex_, and held out a welcoming hand to Nort and +Dick. "They said you was comin' back to Diamond X, but I sorter missed +you--been out tryin' t' locate a bunch of strays," he confided to Bud, +"an' I didn't have no luck! Glad to meet yo' all, though, powerful +glad! 'Specially on account of that there coffee!" and he sniffed the +air as he caught the aroma of the fragrant pot Buck Tooth was putting +on to boil. + +"But what are you lads doing so far from Diamond X?" Babe went on, when +they had moved over to the camp fire, the blaze of which was genially +warm this cool morning on the mountain. + +"We aren't stopping there this trip," said Nort. + +"We're 'on our own,'" proceeded Bud. "I'm raising cattle in the old +Buffalo Wallow Valley--Flume I call it now." + +"Oh, yes, I did hear you were going to tackle that," spoke Babe. +"Didn't know you'd got stocked up, though. Well, I've been over at +Square M for so long I don't hear no real news no more. Gosh! But we +did have some excitement the time those professor chaps pulled that +_Trombone_ out of the ground; didn't we, Bud?" he chuckled. + +"Triceratops, Babe! Triceratops!" corrected Bud, laughing at the +expression of the fat assistant foreman's face. + +"I never could remember the name of them musical pieces, nohow!" sighed +Babe. "Fond as I am, too, of singing," and, taking a long breath, he +bellowed forth on the unoffensive morning air this portion of a ballad: + + "Sing me to sleep with a spur for a rattle, + Fill up the biscuits with lead. + Coil me a rope 'round th' ole weepin' willow, + Curl my feet under my head!" + + +"Glad you feel that way about it," remarked Bud, rather soberly, as +they squatted around the fire for breakfast, which Buck Tooth seemed to +have prepared in record time. + +"What's bit you?" asked Babe, pausing with a smoking flapjack half way +to his mouth, while in his other hand he held a steaming tin cup of +coffee. "Git out th' wrong side of th' saddle this mornin'?" + +"No, but there's trouble over at the valley," explained Bud. "The +water has stopped running and----" + +"The _water_ stopped running!" interrupted Babe. + +"Yes, and when we start out, intending to see what's the trouble, we +get this warning," and Bud extended the dirty piece of paper that had +been fastened to the tree with the thorn. + +"Whew-ee-ee!" whistled Babe, as he read the scrawl of misspelled words. +He opened his mouth again, to intone another of the hundred or more +verses of his favorite cowboy song, but Bud motioned to him to refrain. + +"Don't you like my singin'?" asked Babe, a bit hurt. + +"Yes, but I want to ask you some questions," went on Bud. "You say +you've been out looking for strays?" + +"Yep; prospectin' up and down Snake Mountain all yist'day an' part of +th' night. My grub giv' out with supper last night, an' I was hopin' I +might even run into a bunch of Greasers, when I saw you folks spreadin' +th' banquet table here." + +"Glad you joined us," remarked Nort. + +"So'm I," mumbled Babe, his mouth full of bacon and flapjacks. "But +what's your questions, Bud? Shoot!" + +"Did you see anybody who might have written this?" and the boy rancher +again read the sinister warning: + + +"'Don't take no more watter frum Pocut River if you want to stay +healthy.'" + + +"Why, no, I didn't see nobody," spoke Babe, with more force than +grammar. "'Tain't a joke; is it?" + +"Not when I tell you the water has stopped running," said Bud. + +"So you did! Hum, that's mighty queer like!" mused the assistant +foreman, who had, early in the spring, been transferred to Mr. Merkel's +Square M ranch from Diamond X. "But some of us rather thought there'd +be trouble when your paw dammed up the river to shunt some of it +through the old water course over to Buffalo Wallow. Hank Fisher +claims his water supply has been lessened by what your paw did, Bud." + +"That's all bosh!" exclaimed Bud. "There's as much water for Hank +Fisher as he ever had at Double Z. Besides, this isn't his way of +doing business. He's as mean as they make 'em, but he'll come out in +the open and tell you what he thinks of you." + +"Yes, Hank is that way--_sometimes_," agreed Babe cautiously. "At th' +same time I wouldn't put it past him. Better tell your paw about this, +Bud. You got grit--all three of you!" and he included the other boys +in his glance. "But you can't fight Hank Fisher, Del Pinzo and that +onery gang of Greasers and Mexicans!" + +"There!" cried Nort, clapping his hand down on his outstretched leg. +"That's who that man was--Del Pinzo!" + +"What man?" asked Babe. + +"The one Bud shot." + +"What's that?" cried Babe, half starting to his feet. "Did you shoot +somebody?" + +"Well, I may have _creased_ him," admitted the boy, using a word to +denote a grazing bullet wound, hardly more than a scratch. + +"Whew-ee-ee!" whistled Babe again. "This sounds like old times! Let's +have the hull yarn, Buddy!" he appealed. + +Whereupon Bud related how he had ridden from his new ranch--Diamond X +Second--to meet his cousins whom he expected. He told of finding the +stream of water shut off, of the appearance of the man, the shot, his +sudden vanishing, and the subsequent night ride of the boys. + +"That was Del Pinzo, I'm sure of it!" declared Nort. "I was trying to +think where I'd seen him before, and now I remember!" + +"You couldn't very well forget Del Pinzo," declared Bud. "But this +wasn't he. That isn't saying that it might not have been, of course," +he added, "for I understand he broke jail, after they caught him and +sent him up for rustling our cattle. No, this wasn't that slick +Mexican, Nort." + +"Who was it?" asked Babe, helping himself to another of the flapjacks +which Buck was making in a skillet over the greasewood fire. + +"That's what we don't know," said Bud. "He just naturally vanished, +the way my water did. What are you going to do, Babe?" + +"Well, I ought t' keep on lookin' for them strays your paw's so anxious +about," was the answer. "But I reckon I got time t' mosey along with +you. You say you're goin' down to the river?" + +"Yes, to see if there's anything wrong at the intake pipe," Bud +answered. + +"Then I'll go with you," offered Babe. "And before you try that ride +through the old water course, under the mountain, you'd better call up +your paw." + +"What for?" Bud wanted to know. + +"Well, he mightn't altogether like it. There's a risk, an' he may want +t' send some of us with you. It's easy t' get him on the 'phone from +the dam." + +"Yes," agreed Bud, "I s'pose I had better do that." He remembered that +where Pocut River had been dammed to enable water to flow into the pipe +line, and then through the old river course to his reservoir, there was +a general store, which boasted of a telephone. + +A little later, breakfast having been finished, the party, now +including Babe, reached the Pocut River. There an inspection showed +the water from the river above the dam running freely into the pipe +that carried it to Flume Valley. + +"Nothing wrong here," remarked Bud as he looked into the dark tunnel +which received one end of the pipe. And it was through this natural +tunnel, extending under the mountain, being the course of an old +stream, that the boy ranchers proposed riding. + +"No, th' trouble must be somewhere inside," agreed Babe. "But call up +your paw, Bud." + +Which Bud did, learning from his father at Diamond X, that Old Billee +had departed, early that morning, to take up his abode at the camp in +the valley. + +"Better wait until Old Billee reaches your place, and then call him +up," suggested Mr. Merkel to his son over the wire, for there was a +'phone in Bud's camp. It seemed rather an incongruity, but it was a +great convenience, since it connected directly with Diamond X, Triangle +B and Square M ranches, as well as with the regular lines. + +There was nothing to do but wait until Old Billee might be expected to +have reached the camp in Flume Valley, and after several hours Bud +called up his own new ranch headquarters. + +"They don't answer," Central reported. + +"He's taking his time," commented Babe. + +But an hour or so later, after several other trials, the voice of Old +Billee came back over the wire from miles distant. + +"Hello! Hello there! Wassa matter? Wassa matter?" demanded the voice +of the old cowpuncher. "Where's everybody, anyhow? Nobody here but +me!" + +"We're over at the dam--Pocut River," called Bud into the instrument. +"Say, Billee, something happened at my place last night. The water +stopped, and we came over here to see where the stoppage was. But it's +all right here. How about you there?" + +"All serene here, Bud, all serene! Wait a minute and I'll take a look +at your reservoir. I can see it from the tent where you got this +talkin' contraption strung. You say the water stopped last night?" + +"Stopped complete, Billee," Bud answered back over the wire. + +"Well then, if there's any comin' over the spillway, now, it's a sign +she's runnin' here ag'in, I take it!" + +"Sure thing. But is she running?" asked Bud, anxiously. + +"Wait a minute, an' I'll take a look. Hold on to that there wire!" + +"I'll hold it!" promised Bud, smiling at his cousins. + +There was a moment of anxious waiting and, in fancy, the boy ranchers +could see Old Billee going to the tent flap and looking toward the +reservoir. + +"Hello, Bud!" presently came the call over the wire. + +"Hello, Billee. What about it?" + +"Water's there all right! Must 'a' come back in th' night! She's +runnin' fine now!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +ANOTHER WARNING + +Bud Merkel was about to hang up the receiver, with a blank and +uncomprehending look on his face, when Babe caught the black rubber +earpiece from him. + +"Wait a minute, Billee!" called Babe into the transmitter. "See +anything of anybody around there? Anything suspicious?" + +The others could not hear what the old cowboy's answer was, but Babe +soon enlightened them. + +"He says it's all serene," Babe declared as he now hung up the +receiver. "Nobody in sight, an' the water is runnin' through the pipe +as natural as can be." + +"I can't understand it!" declared Bud. "It was almost as dry as a bone +when we left last night." + +"But it's running in here from the river dam," said Nort. + +"Then there must have been a break somewhere in the tunnel natural +water course," declared Bud. "Well, if it mended itself so much the +better. But that doesn't explain this," and he held out the scrawled +warning. "And if the water stopped once it may stop again." + +"Yes," agreed Babe, "but if anybody wanted to stop it they'd have to do +it either at this end, where the pipe takes water from the river, or at +your end, Bud, where it delivers water to your reservoir." + +"Unless somebody stopped the stream inside the tunnel," suggested Dick. + +"Then it would back up here at the river end," said Nort, quickly, "and +it hasn't done that." + +"No, it hasn't," agreed Bud. "It sure is queer. I'm beginning to +think there may be more in that black rabbit than I believed first." + +"What rabbit is that?" asked Babe. + +"The one Old Billee said would bring me bad luck," Bud answered. +"Well," he went on to his cousins, "we might as well go back to camp. +We can't do anything here." + +"If you've got water that's all you want in Flume Valley," declared +Babe. "There isn't a finer place t' raise cattle in all th' world than +there--if you have _water_!" + +"And if you haven't--you might as well quit!" spoke Bud. + +"You eliminated an earful that time," the assistant foreman stated. +"But I reckon it was just a little break, inside th' tunnel, an' it +filled itself up natural like. You won't have any more trouble." + +"I hope not," spoke the boy rancher. "Are you going on back to Diamond +X, Babe?" + +"Not until I find that bunch of strays from Square M. They're too +valuable t' let slip." + +"Especially to let Hank Fisher, or Del Pinzo, slip them away," +exclaimed Bud as he and his chums left the store where they had been +telephoning. + +"Not so loud! Not so loud!" cautioned Babe. + +"Why not?" Bud wanted to know, when they were outside. + +"'Cause one of Hank's men was in there! He'll be sure t' tell what you +said, Bud." + +"Let him! I'm not afraid of Hank, or his tool Del Pinzo, and I'd just +as soon either one would know what I think of 'em!" + +"Don't be too brash; don't be too brash!" counseled Babe. "But they +sure are both bad actors--Del an' Hank!" + +There was nothing more that needed to, or could, be done at the Pocut +River end of the flume, part natural, part artificial, which supplied +Bud's new ranch with such a vital necessity as water. The stream had +been dammed just above the intake pipe--not completely dammed, but +enough to provide the necessary head of water. + +As Nort had said, had the stream been stopped purposely or by accident +inside the tunnel, the water would have backed up and run out around +the pipe, flowing into the river below the dam. But this had not +occurred. + +"If it doesn't happen again we'll be all right," spoke Bud, as he rode +back with his cousins, making an easy pace along the trail that led +over Snake Mountain and down into Flume Valley. "But if the water +stops running again----" + +"Let's go through the tunnel; it's the only way to be sure!" +interrupted Nort. + +"I'm with you!" exclaimed Dick. + +"It would seem to be the only way," agreed Bud. "Well, we'll hope this +is the end of my black-rabbit bad luck, and look for success, now that +you fellows are here. Cracky! But we'll have some good times, and +there'll be plenty of work, too!" + +"How many cattle you got?" asked Nort. + +"About five hundred," Bud answered. "Course you have a share with me, +that your dad bought, but we don't own 'em outright yet. My dad still +has a mortgage on 'em." + +"But if we have luck we can clear that off; can't we?" asked Dick. + +"Sure, this year, maybe," assented Bud. "I never saw steers fatten so +fast as ours have since I brought 'em to Flume Valley. I reckon the +land, being without water so long, raises a specially fine kind of +grass. Of course, there's always some at the far end of the valley, +good grass, too, but when there wasn't any water for the cattle to +drink there wasn't any use trying to raise stock there. But now it's +different." + +"And all we want is for the water to stay," added Dick. + +"That's all," chimed in his brother. + +With Buck Tooth trailing behind, the three boys took the mountain trail +and reached their camp near the reservoir that evening. They found Old +Billee and Yellin' Kid waiting for them, these two cowboys having been +assigned by Mr. Merkel to help his son in the lad's new venture. + +"Well, yo' got back, I see," remarked Old Billee as he greeted the +lads, the Indian going off by himself, for he was rather taciturn in +his manner. + +"Yes, we're here," admitted Bud. "But I can't understand that water +coming back so unexpectedly." + +"Are you sure it stopped running?" asked Yellin' Kid in his usual loud +voice. + +"Sure!" declared Bud. "Didn't Buck see it--or, rather, he didn't see +it, for there wasn't any water to see coming through the pipe--only a +few drops." + +"I wouldn't take his word," declared Old Billee. "Not that Buck would +actually lie, but those Indians are queer." + +"Oh, we all saw that the water wasn't running," declared Nort. + +"Well, it was when I got here," stated the old cowboy. "And there +wasn't a sign of anything wrong. But if there had been I'd expected +it, 'count of----" + +"That black rabbit, I reckon!" broke in Bud. + +"Perzactly!" declared Old Billee. "A black jack shore is bad luck, at +any stage of the game!" + +But for a time there seemed to be no truth in this western omen. +Following the first mysterious disappearance of the water, and its +equally strange reappearance, peace seemed to settle down over Flume +Valley. + +The steers and yearlings, with which Bud's father had entrusted him and +the boy ranchers, thrived and fattened on the succulent grass. Old +Billee, Yellin' Kid, with Buck Tooth's help, aided the boys in such +minor duties as were necessary to perform about the camp. The main +duty was looking after the safety of the cattle, to see that none of +them strayed beyond the wire fence at the far end of the valley. +Should any stray from the other egress, nearest Diamond X ranch, no +great harm would result, as they would still be on their owner's land. + +But the farther, or north end, adjoined land owned by Hank Fisher, the +Double Z representative. And there were ugly stories current +concerning Mr. Fisher. + +But as the days passed, and as the water still flowed through the pipes +and underground tunnel into the reservoir, Bud and his companions began +to think they had imagined more troubles than were really to occur. + +"Guess that warning was only a bluff," said Bud, one day. + +"And the black rabbit doesn't seem to have given you the jinx," added +Nort. + +"But we didn't find that man you shot," put in Dick. + +"I don't believe I shot him," declared Bud. "There was blood, sure +enough, but he may have stumbled, as, in fact, we saw him, and +scratched himself." + +"But where did he disappear to?" asked Nort. + +"Give up," answered Bud. "We'll have to take another look after we get +our first shipment out of the way." + +For the first bunch of steers from the Flume Valley camp were to be +disposed of shortly. + +It was the day when this shipment was to be made that Bud, awakening +early in the tent where he slept with his cousins, uttered an +exclamation of surprise as he caught sight of something on the blanket +that covered him. + +"What's the matter?" asked Dick, sitting up. + +"Did you leave this here?" asked Bud, as he held up a piece of board, +evidently part of a packing case. + +"Me? No!" answered Dick. "What is it?" + +"Either it's a joke, or it's the black rabbit getting in his work," +answered Bud. "It's from an unknown enemy--another warning!" + +And, as Bud held up the board, Nort and Dick could read, scrawled on +it, evidently with a fire-blackened stick, the words: + +"Warning No. 2. When will you quit?" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +TROUBLE AT SQUARE M + +"Guess that must be a joke," decided Nort, as he stepped gingerly from +his cot, for it was cold in the mornings, though hot enough at midday. +"Likely Old Billee or Yellin' Kid stuck it there," added the eastern +lad, as he looked at the scrawled warning. + +"Old Billee wouldn't do it," declared Bud. "He's gotten over his +joking days. But it might have been Yellin' Kid." + +"Sure!" agreed Dick. "Probably he did it to make what Billee said +about the black rabbit come true--to sort of scare you, Bud." + +"Well, of course that _might_ have happened," admitted the western lad, +but from the tone of his voice, as he made a hasty toilet, his cousins +could tell he was far from being convinced. + +"You don't reckon it could be Buck Tooth, do you?" asked Dick, +following his cousin's example in attiring himself for the day's work. + +"What? That Zuni Indian? I should say not! His idea of a joke would +make your hair stand on end--or it would in his wild and younger days. +Now all he cares about, after he gets through riding herd, is to sit in +the sun and smoke his Mexican cigarettes. Buck Tooth doesn't joke." + +"Well, maybe it was Yellin' Kid," suggested Nort. + +But when, a little later, they assembled in the meal tent, to partake +of breakfast, and Bud produced the scrawled board, Yellin' Kid was the +first to shake his head at the implied question. + +"I like fun!" he remarked in his loud, good-natured voice, "but I don't +play such jokes as this. My idea of fun would be to help dig up +another one of them queer, slidin'-trombone insects with the three +horns that the professor fellers discovered. But this--why, Bud, this +may be serious business!" + +"That black rabbit--I told you!" croaked Old Billee. + +"Do you really think it means anything?" asked the boy rancher, while +his young partners in the new venture leaned eagerly forward to listen +to the answer. + +"I sure do," declared Yellin' Kid. "All of us have known, Bud, an' +your father among 'em, that puttin' a dam in Pocut River, an' taking +water for you here, at Flume Valley, made the Double Z outfit mad +enough t' rear up on their hind legs an' howl! Hank Fisher has +claimed, all along, that th' Diamond X outfit hadn't any right t' take +water from th' river, t' shunt over on th' other side of Snake +Mountain, where we are, here." + +"Yes, I heard dad say that," spoke Bud. "But if Hank Fisher had any +rights that we violated, why didn't he go to law about it?" + +"That isn't Hank's way," commented Yellin' Kid. "He'd more likely try +some such tricks as _that_," and the cowboy nodded toward the warning +on the board. + +"Do you think he left that?" asked Nort. + +"And was he, or Del Pinzo, in our camp last night?" cried Dick. + +"As to that I couldn't say," replied Yellin' Kid. "I slept like two +tops last night, after I got t' sleep. I didn't even hear you fellows +_snore_," he added, for the three boy ranchers had a tent to +themselves, while Old Billee and Yellin' Kid bunked in an adjoining +one, Buck Tooth having his own special dugout near the camp fire. + +"We never snore!" declared Nort. + +"Well, I didn't hear a sound!" assented Yellin' Kid. + +"Nor I," said Old Billee. + +There was no use asking Buck Tooth. An actual demonstration would have +been required to make him understand what a "snore" was, and then he +might have misinterpreted it into an attempt to work some "magic" on +him. + +"Well, somebody came in our camp, and left that board--there's no +getting away from the fact," declared Bud, as he put aside the ominous +warning. "And it may have some connection with the stoppage of the +water, or it may not." + +"I'm inclined t' think it has," said Yellin' Kid. "An', what's more, +Bud, I think we'll wake up again, some mornin', t' find that reservoir +of yours out-a business." + +"Do you mean Hank Fisher, or Del Pinzo and his crowd, will blow it up?" +asked Bud anxiously. + +"Not exactly that, but they'll cut off your water supply." + +"But how can they?" asked Bud. "They can't do anything to the pipe +intake at Pocut River without being seen, and dad had legal advice to +the effect that he has as good right to that river water as Double Z, +or any other ranch. And as for this end of the pipe here, we can look +after that, I reckon," and he significantly tapped his .45 which he had +strapped on, preparatory to getting ready for the cattle shipment. + +"That's all right," asserted Yellin' Kid. "But you've forgotten th' +big tunnel under the mountain, Bud, where the water runs free after it +leaves the river pipe, an' before it gets to the pipe here." + +"But Hank, or Del Pinzo, can't cut off the water inside the mountain +tunnel without having it back up and run into the river again--and it +didn't do that!" Bud insisted. + +Yellin' Kid shrugged his shoulders, as he started for the corral to get +his horse, since he was to aid in driving the cattle to the railroad +stock yard. + +"I don't know nothin' about th' scientific end of it," he drawled +loudly, "but, mark my words, there's some queer business goin' on, an' +Hank Fisher an' Del Pinzo have a hand in it. Look out for your water +supply, Bud; that's my advice!" + +"An' don't let any more black rabbits cross your path," added Old +Billee. + +"Bunk!" scoffed Bud. "Though I don't like this warning, all the same. +Let's go take a look at the reservoir, fellows." + +But an inspection of the concrete water-container showed nothing wrong +there. The sparkling fluid, so necessary for the cattle, and so vital +to Diamond X Second, was spurting from the pipe freely. + +"Guess they're only trying to bluff us!" was Dick's opinion. + +"Maybe," assented his cousin. "But, all the same, I'd like to know who +was in our camp last night. If this thing is going to keep up we'll +have to mount guard." + +"That wouldn't be a bad idea," declared Nort. "I don't like to go to +bed so early, anyhow." + +"You'll be glad enough to turn in after we get into the swing of things +here, branding cattle, shipping 'em off and all that," said Bud. "But +let's take a look around after we get this bunch off." + +And when Yellin' Kid, with another cowboy sent by Mr. Merkel to help +Bud in getting the steers to the railroad station, had departed with +the shipment, the boy ranchers, Old Billee and Buck Tooth made a +careful examination in the vicinity of the tents. + +Of course, with so many who really belonged in the camp, tramping +around it, there was little likelihood of an alien foot being +discovered. Nevertheless, Bud hoped for something of this sort. But +it was not to be. No trace of the midnight intruder, who had left the +ominous warning, was discovered. And yet he had come and gone--had +even penetrated to the tent where the boys were sleeping. + +"It's either bluff, or it means something," declared Bud, as they +assembled for lunch. "And if it isn't bluff, but a _fight_, Hank +Fisher and Del Pinzo will find we can stick to our guns as well as +they!" + +"You said it!" cried Nort. + +"Del Pinzo didn't stay long in jail; did he?" asked Dick, for, +following the discovery of the Triceratops and the capture of the +cattle rustlers, as detailed in the first volume, the Mexican halfbreed +had been arrested. + +"No, he managed to get out, and, by some hook or crook, he still +manages to escape arrest," Bud answered. + +For some time it appeared that the two warnings were only "bluffs." No +sign came from the unknown, and no trace was seen of Hank Fisher, Del +Pinzo or any of the unprincipled gang which had made so much trouble +the previous year for the Diamond X outfit. + +Nor did the water coming under Snake Mountain show any signs of giving +out. Day after day it ran its limpid stream, furnishing drink for man +and beast, and enabling grass to grow where it had never grown before. + +"Some day I'm going to rig up a turbine wheel and attach a dynamo to +it, so we can have electric light here," declared Bud. + +"That'll be great!" exclaimed Dick. + +The first shipment of cattle had been safely gotten off from Flume +Valley, and brought a good price. This money did not all come to the +boy ranchers, however, as Mr. Merkel had insisted on a strict business +deal; and he was to be paid for his share of the stock he supplied Bud +from the first money coming in. Later the boys would get their +profits--if there were any. + +But the first lot of steers had been sent away, bringing a higher price +than usual because of their prime condition, attributed, so Bud said, +to the finer quality of grass, and it looked as if the boy ranchers +might make a success of their first venture. + +"Even discounting the black rabbit and the warnings out of the air," +said Bud. + +It was, then, with somewhat of an ominous feeling that, one morning, as +the boys and their cowboy friends were at breakfast, they saw a rider +hastening toward them along the trail that led from Diamond X. + +"It's Snake Purdee!" exclaimed Yellin' Kid, when the rider had +approached near enough to be recognized. + +"An' he's ridin' like he had suthin' on his mind!" added Old Billee. +"I hope that black rabbit----" he murmured, and then his voice trailed +off into a whisper as Yellin' Kid surreptitiously kicked him under the +packing-box table. + +"Don't scare th' boys!" whispered Yellin' Kid in explanation, as Snake +Purdee galloped nearer. + +The rider flung himself from his pony, which came to a sliding stop +near the camp tents, and, looking first at the boy ranchers, and then +at the big, peaceful valley stretching out before him, remarked: + +"Yes, there's plenty of room here!" + +"For what?" asked Bud. + +"More cattle!" answered Snake Purdee. "There's been trouble over at +Square M, fellows!" + +"Trouble?" exclaimed the boy ranchers in chorus. "What kind?" + +"Bad trouble," was the reply. "Call your father up on th' 'phone, +Bud," he added. "He wants t' talk t' you. Yes," he went on, musingly, +as Bud hastened in to the telephone, "there's bad trouble at Square M!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +DOUBLING UP + +Nort and Dick looked at each other as Bud slipped into the tent where +the telephone had been installed. Snake Purdee strode over to the +water pail, and took a long drink. + +"That's good stuff!" he remarked with a sigh of satisfaction, and then +he led his pony to the trough, into which the thirsty animal dipped his +muzzle deeply. "Mighty good water!" + +"An' I hope nothing happens to it," voiced Old Billee. + +"Happens! What d'yo' mean?" questioned the bearer of bad tidings. +"The water's here, ain't it?" + +"But no tellin' how long it'll run," added the veteran cowpuncher. "A +black rabbit run across Bud's path the day he was ridin' to meet Nort +and Dick, and ever since then----" + +"Do you mean t' tell me you still believe in that old superstition?" +laughed Snake Purdee, who had acquired this name because of his +exceeding fear of rattlers and other reptiles. He had been bitten +once, he declared, and had nearly died. + +"There's more'n superstition!" declared Old Billee. "Look at that!" +and he brought out the board warning, and related the incident of the +mysterious disappearance of the water, and its equally strange +reappearance. + +"Oh, it's just one of those freaks of the old, underground river +course," said Snake. "Of course I wouldn't put much past Hank Fisher +and Del Pinzo, but if either of them sent these warnings it was t' play +a joke, an' scare our boy ranchers. Guess Hank's jealous!" laughed +Snake. + +"But what has happened over at Square M?" asked Dick. + +"Has Hank or Del Pinzo anything to do with that?" Nort wanted to know. + +"I don't see how they could," spoke Snake. "It's just that----" + +But at this moment Bud came out of the tent, having finished his +telephonic talk with his father. + +"There's an epidemic of disease at dad's Square M ranch," Bud explained +to his cousins and the others. "It's so bad that a lot of the steers +have already died, and dad is going to take off the rest of the stock +before they catch the trouble. Some he's going to put at Triangle B, +some at Diamond X and some he's going to haze over to us. We'll have +to double up, fellows," he told Nort and Dick. "I guess dad is glad +he's got Flume Valley now. It may save him a lot of money that +otherwise he'd lose." + +"Got t' double up, eh?" murmured Old Billee Dobb. "How many head's he +goin' t' send here, Bud?" + +"About five hundred he told me. They'll be stock that hasn't been near +the infected cattle," he went on, "so there won't be any danger to our +herds." + +"Can we look after five hundred more steers?" asked Nort. + +"Oh, I'm comin' to help you," offered Snake. "I forgot t' say that I +was going t' move into one of your _flats_," and he waved his hand +toward where the white tents made an attractive camp. "Didn't bring my +duffle bag," he added, "but one of th' boys is going t' ride over this +evening with his 'n' mine." + +"Is some one else coming?" Bud wanted to know. "If we double up too +much we'll need more grub." + +"Your dad told me t' tell you he'd send some," went on Snake. "Yep, a +new ranch hand is due t' arrive this evenin'. He's a wonder with th' +gun an' rope, t' hear him tell it!" chuckled Snake. + +"One of them fly boys?" asked Old Billee, mildly, with a gleam of light +in his eyes, however. "Will his heels need clippin', Snake?" + +"Might," was the brief answer. "But now you know th' worst. There's +trouble at Square M, an' you'll have to double up with cow punchers an' +stock, Bud." + +"I don't mind," said the boy rancher. "Dad says he'll split the +profits with me, and that's what we're looking for--to make a success +of Flume Valley ranch. We'll do it, too!" he asserted confidently. + +"If th' water holds out, an' no more black rabbits don't throw you," +murmured Old Billee Dobb. + +"Shucks!" laughed Bud, but the day was to come when he recalled the old +cowboy's ominous warning. + +"It's queer, though," said Bud that evening, when they were gathered +around the camp fire, discussing the coming of the cattle from Square +M, which were to arrive the following day, or the one after that. +"It's queer what made that disease break out so suddenly among dad's +steers. There aren't any cases of it at Double Z; are there?" he asked +Snake. "And Fisher's place is the next one nearest ours." + +"No, I don't recall hearin' that Hank's stock is sufferin' any," the +cowboy admitted. "But Square M is hard hit. It's a disease the +government experts are tryin' t' find a remedy for. Been experimentin' +with all sorts of serums, germs an' th' like, I understand." + +"Is it a germ disease?" asked Nort. + +"That's what they call it," the cowboy asserted. "It can be given +easy, from one steer to another, just by rubbin' horns, so t' speak. +Or the trouble may break out sudden in a herd, if th' germ gets loose +in 'em." + +"That's all bosh!" declared Pocut Pete, the new cowboy who had arrived +just about grub time, with his own outfit and that of Snake Purdee, who +had ridden over "light." + +"What's bosh?" asked Old Billee. + +"The idea that this disease is spread by germs, or 'bugs,' as some +folks call 'em. I think the cattle get poisoned by eating some weed, +same as lots of 'em get locoed." + +"Well, maybe," agreed Bud. "Anyhow, we got good feed here, and plenty +of water for dad's cattle, as well as ours. We can double up as well +as not. Now I wonder if we have blankets enough for you two?" and he +looked at Snake and Pocut, who said his name had been given him as he +had "punched" cows so long in the vicinity of the Pocut River. + +"Oh, we'll make out," asserted Snake, who was easily suited. + +But Bud, being the nominal head of the camp, would leave nothing to +chance. While some of the others were still about the flickering camp +fire, talking of the trouble at Square M, the strange disappearance of +the water and kindred topics, the boy rancher went to inspect the tent +where the older cowboys were to pass the night. + +It was fitted with cots enough, and one to spare, but Bud wanted to +make sure of the blankets. For it gets cold at night on the western +plains on even very hot days. + +As Bud entered the tent he saw, in the dim light of a turned-down +lantern, a figure sitting on one of the cots. + +"That you, Snake?" Bud asked. + +"No, it's me," answered the voice of the new cowboy, Pocut Pete. + +"Oh," remarked the lad, and as the other arose Bud caught the tinkle of +glass. For a moment an ugly suspicion entered Bud's mind, but when his +nostrils did not catch the smell of liquor, which was strictly +forbidden on all Mr. Merkel's ranches, Bud felt a sense of relief. + +Pocut Pete passed out, after Bud had assured himself that there were +blankets enough, and as the boy rancher was leaving the tent, he trod +on something that broke, with a grating sound, under his foot. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +DRY AGAIN + +"What the mischief's that?" exclaimed Bud, as he unhooked the lantern +from the tent pole and swung it toward the ground where he had set his +foot. "Has Nort or Dick lost their bottle of paregoric?" and he +chuckled as he recalled what use his cousins had made of that +baby-pacifier when they had been captured at the camp of the +professors, as related in the book prior to this. + +"It _is_ a bottle, and I stepped on it and smashed it," went on Bud, as +he saw the shining particles of thin glass. "That new cowboy, Pocut +Pete, must have dropped it. Hope it wasn't any medicine he needed. +Smells mighty queer, though!" and Bud sniffed the air. "I hope he +isn't one of those 'dope fiends,'" and again a feeling of apprehension +passed over him. + +Bud picked up one of the largest pieces of the crushed glass bottle. +The little phial appeared to have been filled with a sticky, yellowish +substance, and the odor was not pleasant. + +"Whew!" exclaimed Bud as he caught a strong whiff of it. "I wouldn't +want to have to take any of _that_ for medicine. Guess I'll ask Snake +what he knows of Pocut Pete before I make any inquiries on my own hook. +And I'll tell him he'd better bury this glass if he doesn't want to cut +his own feet, or that of the others." + +"Bunks all right?" asked Old Billee Dobb, as Bud emerged from the tent. + +"All ready to turn in," was the answer. + +"Which I'm going to do dark an' early," declared the old cowboy. "I +have the late watch t'-night." + +For it had been decided, with the coming of the additional steers from +Square M, that it would be necessary to ride herd, as so many cattle in +a bunch might engender a stampede. And at Old Billee's suggestion the +night-riding was to start then, to break them in, so to speak. + +Bud saw Pocut Pete standing by himself at the cook tent, Buck Tooth +having been induced to open some cans of peaches, a form of fruit much +in favor on western ranches where the fresh variety is unobtainable. + +"You'd better clean up that glass you left in the bunk tent," Bud +remarked in a low voice. + +"What glass?" sharply demanded the other, and there was in his voice a +note of defiance, the boy thought. + +"The glass bottle you dropped, and I stepped on," Bud resumed, for he +did not hesitate to give orders in his own camp. + +"I didn't drop any bottle!" declared Pocut Pete. + +"Well, some one did, and I smashed it," asserted Bud. "If you don't +want to cut your feet you'd better bury it," and he hurried off to wash +from his hands some of the unpleasant-smelling mixture that had clung +to them. + +"I sleep with my boots on," said Pocut Pete. "But I'll tell the rest +of 'em to be careful." + +"It would be better," Bud flung back over his shoulder. + +It was late next day when cowboys from Square M arrived, slowly driving +before them the cattle that were to be doubled up with those which Bud, +Nort and Dick considered specially their own. + +"What's the situation over there now?" Bud asked one of the punchers, +who looked tired and weary, for the trail had been long and dry, as +evidenced by the eager manner in which the steers rushed for water. + +"Pretty bad," was the answer. "This disease, whatever it is, seems to +kill off mighty quick. I don't know how many your dad has lost, but I +guess now, what with those we've brought here and them sent to Diamond +X and Triangle B, that we'll get the best of the trouble. Gosh! You +got a nice place here!" he added admiringly. + +"Yes, it's pretty good," Bud agreed. "Bringing the water over from +Pocut River made all the difference in the world." + +"You got out a lungful that time!" asserted another of the cowboys who +had helped "haze" over the steers that were transferred to save them +from infection. + +The visiting cowboys departed next day, leaving their animals mingled +with those in which Bud, Nort and Dick had an interest. The doubled-up +herd was not too large but what there was plenty of feed and water in +Flume Valley. + +During the days that followed, matters at Diamond X Second, as Bud +sometimes called his ranch camp, adjusted themselves smoothly. There +was no further sign, or evidence, of mysterious warnings. The cattle +throve, and those from Square M, which were not in as good physical +condition as the animals that had been longer in the green valley, +began to "pick up" and fatten. + +"I tell you what, fellows!" boasted Bud to his cousins, "dad'll be +wishing he'd kept this ranch for himself! We'll beat him at his own +game!" + +"It would be a big stunt if we could, not taking advantage of his bad +luck at Square M, though," spoke Nort. + +"Well, you have to count on bad luck in this business," remarked Bud. +"Not that black rabbits have anything to do with it," he laughed, as he +looked at Old Billee. + +Bud and his cousins were returning, one hot afternoon, from having +ridden to a distant part of the valley, where Snake Purdee had reported +he had found a calf killed. There was a suspicion that rustlers had +been at work, but Bud decided the animal had been separated from its +mother and the main herd, and had been pulled down by coyotes. + +"What's that?" asked Nort, when they were within sight of the camp with +its reservoir in the background. + +"What's what?" asked Bud, who pulled his pony aside quickly, to escape +a prairie dog's burrow. + +"Looks like Old Billee waving his hat for us to hit up the pace," spoke +Dick. + +"It is!" asserted Bud, after gazing beneath his hands held in front of +his eyes as a sun-shield. "I hope nothing's wrong!" + +But when they had ridden up, the old cowboy riding out to meet them, it +was made plain, in a moment, that something had occurred out of the +ordinary. + +Old Billee Dobb was much excited. His eyes blazed and snapped and he +shook the reins in addition to mildly spurring on his pony. + +"More mysterious warnings?" asked Bud. + +"Worse'n that," was the answer. "She's dry ag'in!" + +"The pipe line?" asked Dick. + +"You hit it!" cried the other. "Water's stopped runnin' ag'in, Bud!" + +"Whew!" whistled the boy rancher. "And with a double lot of stock on +hand, too! This _is_ bad!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A SHOT IN THE NIGHT + +Wheeling his pony, Old Billee rode back with the boy ranchers, until +they reached the bottom of the reservoir wall. Then, dismounting, Bud, +Nort and Dick scrambled up the earth slope on one side until they could +look into the storage tank, and at the pipe which, connecting with the +old underground water-course, kept the reservoir filled. + +"She isn't spouting!" said Bud, in blank disappointment. + +"Just a dribble," added Nort, mournfully. + +"And if it does as it did before that'll stop in a little while," +remarked Dick. + +"When did it start to stop?" asked Bud, unconscious of the double +meaning of his words. + +"About an hour ago," Old Billee answered. "I happened t' notice it +when I come up here t' try for a fish." + +"Fish!" cried Nort. "Can you get any fish _here_?" + +"Sartin sure!" asserted the old cowboy. "They come in from th' river, +under th' mountain, though how they like the dark I can't say, an' they +come out of this pipe. I've caught many a good one." + +The eastern lads looked to Bud for confirmation, and their cousin, +nodded, rather gloomily, though. + +"Yes," said Bud, "fish do come through the pipe. But if we don't get +any more water they'll all die off soon." + +"Maybe the water will come back--as it did before," asserted Dick. + +Bud did not answer. He appeared to be figuring out something on the +back of an old envelope with the stub of a pencil. + +"We'll have enough for a week, I think," finally announced the boy +rancher. "Then, if the water doesn't come back, we'll have to drive +all the stock over to Diamond X. Can't take a chance letting 'em die +of thirst here, even if they didn't stampede, which they'd be sure to +do." + +Two things are vitally necessary on a ranch--grass and water for the +stock. Of grass there was plenty in Flume Valley, and, had the stream +continued to come through the pipe, there would have been a goodly +supply of water, even for the extra stock added from Square M. + +But when no fluid spurted from the mouth of the black pipe, the other +end being hidden in the opening of the natural water course, it spelled +ruin for Diamond X Second. + +"I wonder--I just wonder--if this has anything to do with the threat we +received?" mused Bud, as he and his cousins went down the slope to the +little table of land where the tents were pitched. + +"Granting that it has, who sent the warning?" asked Nort. + +"Who else but the man who doesn't want to see any water diverted from +Pocut River?" asked Bud, in turn. "I mean Hank Fisher, and the gang he +trails along with! If anyone stopped this water, he did!" + +"But how?" asked Yellin' Kid, who had strolled up to take part in the +general conversation. "He couldn't do it at th' river end of th' pipe, +without bein' found out, and he hasn't been around _here_, I'll gamble +on that--not since we started keepin' watch at night." + +"No, he hasn't been here," admitted Bud, slowly. "It sure is a puzzle. +Well, let's have grub, and talk about it later. It may come back. If +it doesn't we have enough for a week--maybe longer." + +It was drinking water for the cattle that was mostly needed, since the +occasional, slight rainfall was now sufficient to provide for the +grass, though some water was used to irrigate certain sections that +would be called "meadows" in the east. This drinking water was +conducted to distant troughs by pipes running from the reservoir, the +pipes being controlled by means of valves, or water gates. + +Had there been natural water-holes in Flume Valley it would, long ago, +have been used as a place to raise cattle. But it was the absence of +drinking places that caused it to be passed by, until, by artificial +means, tapping the river through the underground course, Mr. Merkel had +enabled his son and nephews to become boy ranchers in earnest. + +As Bud had stated, there was about a week's supply on reserve in the +concrete reservoir. When that was exhausted, unless the water again +started flowing through the pipe, the cattle would suffer from thirst. + +"Well, she isn't spouting any," mournfully remarked Nort, as, with his +brother and Bud, he ascended the slope, standing on the edge of the +reservoir. + +"No," agreed Bud. "She's as dry as an old buffalo skull now. I don't +know what to do!" + +The shadows of dusk were falling, and the boys felt that the night was +coming with its gloom to match their own feelings. Failure seemed to +stare them in the face. + +"But I don't see how anyone--granting that somebody like Hank Fisher or +Del Pinzo has it in for us--can shut off the water without operating at +either end of the flume!" exclaimed Nort. + +"That is queer," agreed Bud. "I wonder what's inside that tunnel where +the old watercourse runs? I've been through it, but couldn't see much +of anything. I've a good notion----" + +He broke off his remarks to gaze intently ahead. There was a movement +in the gloom, and a figure walked away. + +"Who's there?" asked Bud sharply, his hand slipping to his .45. + +"It's me," came quickly, if not grammatically, from Pocut Pete, whose +voice the boys recognized. "I just moseyed up here t' see if she was +runnin'." + +"Well, she isn't," spoke Bud, a bit shortly. + +"So I see," came the drawling answer, and it was followed by a faint +tinkling of glass. + +Bud started, and tried to pierce the night shadows. But all he saw was +the figure of the strange cowboy becoming more and more indistinct. +Bud was just going to say something when he was halted by the voice of +Nort. + +"I have an idea!" exclaimed the eastern lad. + +"What is it?" asked his brother. "Anything to do with this?" and he +waved toward the reservoir which was strangely still, now that the +water no longer bubbled into it from the pipe. + +"Yes," went on Nort. "Why not investigate and see where the stoppage +is, Bud?" + +"Investigate what?" + +"The pipe line--the old underground water-course." + +"You mean go through the tunnel?" Bud asked. + +"Sure! Why not? You say it's big enough all the way through, and the +water itself doesn't occupy much of the bottom. We could walk it in a +day, easy!" + +"Yes," agreed Bud, "it isn't more than five miles, though we'd have to +carry lanterns, and we might get lost in some side passage." + +"That's just what I want to find out about!" cried Nort. "If there +_is_ a branch passage maybe that's where the water goes! Come on, Bud, +let's go through the tunnel!" + +"I'm with you!" said Dick. + +For a moment Bud hesitated and then, as he was about to reply, there +came the sudden sound of a shot, which shattered the night with a +sliver of flame, plainly visible to the boys. + +Instantly a band of coyotes set up their weird howling, and the +startled steers lowed and bellowed as they rushed about. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +INTO THE TUNNEL + +"What's that?" cried Bud. + +"Who's there?" demanded Nort. + +The hand of Dick went toward the .45 he wore in a holster at his belt, +and, it might be added, the hands of the others did also. + +"Keep your shirts on," came the somewhat drawling voice of Pocut Pete, +who, it seemed, had returned after shuffling off in the darkness. "I +just winged a coyote." + +"Oh," murmured Bud. "You were shooting at them, were you?" he asked. + +"Not exactly," answered Pocut Pete, as he sauntered up out of the +gloom. "I saw something movin' down among th' cattle, an' I knew it +couldn't be any of you fellows, so I let go at him." + +"_Him!_" cried Nort. "Was it a man?" + +"Looked like one," drawled Pete. "I heard you'd had trouble with +rustlers before I came, so I wasn't takin' any chances. I didn't aim +t' hit him, though, only t' scare him, an' I must have winged one of +them night-owls!" He chuckled at this characterization of the coyotes. + +"Let's take a look down there," suggested Bud to his cousins, their +worried interest in the stoppage of the water momentarily eclipsed by +the new excitement. + +"Oh, you won't find anyone down there _now_!" Pocut Pete made haste to +say. "If it was a rustler he's far enough off by _this_ time, an' I'm +not positive I really saw one--it was so dark." + +"It won't do any harm to take a look," declared Bud, and his cousins +were of the same opinion. + +"Suit yourself," spoke Pete, easily. "If I did hit him let me know." + +Again he moved off in the darkness, and the boy ranchers, after a +moment of hesitation, started in the direction whence the shot had been +heard and the sliver of flame seen. Pocut Pete had gone on the +opposite trail after returning to the boys, a fact which caused Dick to +remark: + +"Wouldn't you think he'd want to see if he did wing anybody?" + +"He knows well enough he didn't," declared Bud in a low voice, for he +and the others realized that sounds, especially voices, carried almost +as clearly in the night air as across a body of water. + +"What made him talk that way then?" asked Nort. + +"Oh, he's--queer, I guess," replied Bud. "I don't exactly just like +the way he acts. Did you fellows hear the tinkle of glass just before +that shot?" + +"I did," answered Nort, but Dick was not so sure. "What do you make of +it?" Nort wanted to know. + +"Wish I knew," spoke Bud, and then he told them about having found the +small, thin, broken phial of dubious-smelling mixture in the bunk tent +of the older cowboys. + +"Do you think he takes 'dope,' or medicine of some sort?" asked Dick. + +"It's hard to say," was Bud's reply. "But let's look around and see +what we can find." + +Their search was unrewarded, however. The cattle quieted down after +the shot, and the coyotes only occasionally gave vent to their +blood-curdling yells. But as for finding anyone who had been +shot--including even a miserable coyote--there was not a sign. + +"Guess Pete didn't wing anybody after all," mused Dick, as he and his +chums turned back toward the camp. + +"I never s'posed he did," grunted Bud. "He's a four-flusher, that +fellow is, in my opinion. I wish dad had sent me somebody else." + +"He's a good cowboy," defended Nort. + +"Yes, but I don't feel that I can trust him. I'd rather have one like +Old Billee, slow as he is, than two Pocut Pete chaps," grumbled the boy +rancher. "But we've got other worries besides him, fellows! What are +we going to do for water, now that we have a double supply of cattle at +our ranch? That's what's worrying me!" + +"It's enough to worry anyone," Dick agreed. "Maybe the water will come +back, Bud." + +"I hope it does," added Nort. + +"We'll take a stroll through that tunnel--it's the only way to find out +what's wrong," decided Bud. "Talk about black rabbits! I begin to +think Old Billee was more right than wrong!" + +"But your bad luck, so far, isn't as bad as your father's in losing +cattle from disease," remarked Nort. + +"No, and I hope that the epidemic doesn't break out here at Diamond X +Second," went on Bud. "If it starts, and we don't get the water back, +we may as well give up!" + +He was plainly discouraged, and no wonder. He was young, and it was +his first experience as a rancher "on his own." Nort and Dick, too, +were a little down-hearted. + +"But maybe things will look better to-morrow," suggested Nort, as they +turned in for the night, having discovered nothing alarming in the +direction where Pocut Pete had shot. + +"Maybe," half-heartedly assented Bud. + +But there was no water coming through the reservoir end of the tunnel +pipe when the sun shone again, and, after breakfast, the boy ranchers +prepared to explore the dark cave-like opening which extended under the +mountain. + +"I hope we can turn it on," said Bud, and he looked at the concrete +basin of water, trying to calculate how much longer it would last if +the supply were not replenished. Already it was lower than it had been +the night before, for the cattle had drunk freely during the darkness. + +Lanterns were gotten ready, a supply of grub packed, weapons were +looked to (for who knew what beast might not lurk in the tunnel?) and +at last the boy ranchers were ready to start. + +"Good luck!" wished Yellin' Kid as the little party started for the +mouth of the tunnel. + +"Thanks," chorused Nort, Dick and Bud. + +Then they entered the black opening. + +If you will imagine a hillside, with a hole, or tunnel, about ten feet +high and as broad, but of irregular shape, opening into it, and on the +bottom, or floor, a two-foot iron pipe out of which, at normal times, +ran a stream of water, you will have a good idea of the place into +which our young heroes were to enter. + +The tunnel extended all the way through Snake Mountain, curving this +way and that, as a brook curves its way through a meadow. In fact the +tunnel had been made, centuries ago, by a stream forcing its way +through the soft parts of the mountain, and it was this old, hidden, +underground stream-way of which Mr. Merkel had taken advantage to bring +water to Flume Valley. + +The stream flowed along the bottom of the tunnel course, leaving room +on either side for persons to walk, as they might walk along the banks +of a stream in the open. The underground river was not more than four +feet wide, and about the same in average depth, but in places it flowed +with a very powerful current. + +"Whew! It's black as tar here!" exclaimed Dick, as they walked in past +the pipe, and found themselves in the tunnel proper. + +"As bad as the Hole of Calcutta," added Nort, who had read that grim +story of the Sepoy rebellion in India. + +"Do you want to back out?" asked Bud, swinging his lantern so that it +cast flickering shadows on the place where water had flowed, but where +there was none now. + +"Back out!" cried Nort. "I should say not! Lead on, Macduff!" + +And they started off in the blackness of the tunnel, with only the +faint gleams of the lanterns to illuminate their way. What would they +find? + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE RUSH OF WATERS + +Echoes of the footsteps of the boy ranchers sounded and resounded as +they tramped along the now dry water-course of what had, only a day +before, been a life-giving stream of water. The rocky and +roughly-vaulted roof overhead gave back the noises like the soundbox of +a phonograph, and the lads had to speak loudly, in places, to make +their voices carry above the echoes. These places were spots where the +vaulted roof of the tunnel was higher than usual. + +They had walked on, the semi-circular spot of light at the entrance +near the black pipe growing more and more faint, until it was not at +all visible. + +"There she goes!" exclaimed Dick, looking back. + +"What?" asked his brother. + +"The last gleam of daylight," was the answer. "If anything happens to +our lanterns, so that they go out, and we get mixed up in some branch +passages--good night! That's all I have to say!" and Dick was very +emphatic in this. + +"By Zip Foster!" exclaimed Bud, using that expression for the first +time in several days. "You're a cheerful chap to have along on a +picnic like this, Dick! Not!" + +"Well, might as well prepare for the worst and hope for the best," +laughed Dick, while Nort inquired: + +"Why don't you tell us more about Zip Foster?" + +"Oh--you--say, did you hear anything then?" asked Bud, and his voice +had in it such a note of anxiety that his companions did not, at the +time, imagine he might have been putting them off from a much-wanted +and often-delayed explanation of this mysterious Zip Foster personage. + +"Hear what!" asked Dick. + +"Something like water running," replied Bud. "I have a notion that our +stream--I call it ours for it doesn't seem to belong to anyone +else--our stream may just trickle off, now and then, into some other +underground course." + +"Maybe it does," agreed Dick. "But I don't hear any water running." + +"Nor I," added his brother. + +"Maybe I was mistaken," Bud admitted. "But I sure would like to come +across that missing water of mine!" + +He little realized, nor did the others, what fruit his wish was to +bear, and that very shortly. + +"I guess what you heard was the echoes," spoke Dick. "I never heard so +many queer noises." + +"It's like the cave of the winds," murmured Nort. "But it's a great +adventure all the same, Bud! I mean it would be great if we didn't +have to worry about the water not coming back," he made haste to add, +for he realized what it would mean to their new ranch in Flume Valley +if no drink could be had for the cattle. + +"It beats the finding of the Triceratops all to slathers!" exclaimed +Dick, "and that was no slouch of a happening, either." + +"Yes, no telling what's ahead of us," spoke Bud, as he walked along, +unsteadily enough for the way was rough and filled with stones. And, +as the boys tramped along in the tunnel, part of the time in the very +bed of the stream that had gone dry, their lanterns cast fantastic +shadows on the rocky walls. I have said that the stream was dry, but +this was not strictly true, for in places, where the uneven bed formed +depressions, there were pools of water. And, in some places, there +were even little rills trickling along. But they never would reach the +iron pipe that discharged into the reservoir. + +On and on tramped the boys, pausing, now and then, to hold up their +lanterns and inspect the rocky walls of the underground tunnel which +echoed so strangely to their footsteps, and through which swept +strange, cold and clammy winds. + +"Well, I reckon we'll have to go all the way to the end before we +discover anything, if we do find it," said Bud, when they had walked on +for over an hour. Their pace was slow because of the uneven footing. + +"And when we get to the other end and find the water running into the +pipe at the dam in Pocut River, what then?" asked Nort. + +"We'll hardly find that, I think," said Bud. "Or, I mean, we won't +have to go all the way to the other end if the water is found running +there." + +"Why not?" asked Dick. + +"Because, if the water's running in from the dam end of the pipe, we'll +meet the stream before we get all the way through the tunnel," Bud +explained. "I meant to call up on the telephone and find out if +everything was all right at the river end before we started out, but I +forgot. My theory is that the stream gets into this tunnel from the +river all right, but is shunted off before it reaches us," he added. + +"How shunted?" Dick wanted to know. + +"That's what I can't tell," spoke Bud. "But why try to puzzle this out +until we get something better to work on? I'm hungry! What do you say +that we eat?" + +"Suits me," agreed Nort. + +"I'm not going to vote in the negative," asserted Dick. + +They judged that they were about a quarter way through the mysterious +tunnel now, and, setting down the lanterns on the rocky floor, the boy +ranchers took out the food they had brought with them. It would be +risky to kindle a fire in that enclosed place, Bud decided, as the +smoke might choke them, though so far they had found an abundance of +fresh air, a current blowing part of the time in their faces, and part +of the time in the opposite direction. This proved that there was a +good draft in the elongated cave, but it was voted best not to take any +chances, though there was plenty of dried driftwood on the tunnel +floor, and this could have been used for a blaze. + +But the boys sat about in the gleam of their lanterns, and, while they +ate the sandwiches they had brought, they talked of the strange +happenings that had led up to this venture in which they were now +joined. + +Suddenly Bud, who had just taken up a piece of fruit cake, part of a +chunk that his pretty sister Nell had sent over from the main ranch +house a day or so before, stopped chewing in order to listen better; +for, as you doubtless know, the action of the jaws precludes keen +attention to outside sounds. + +"What's the matter?" asked Dick, noting his cousin's act. + +"I heard something," Bud answered. + +"I'm hearing things all the while!" declared Dick. "This is the most +weird place for mysterious noises I ever struck!" + +"But this is different," insisted Bud. "Listen!" + +Nort and Dick stopped chewing and strained their ears to catch the +sound that had attracted Bud's attention. A strange, rushing, +whispering echo seemed to fill the tunnel. + +"Doesn't that sound like rushing water?" asked Bud. + +"Yes," agreed Dick, after a moment of intentness; "it does." + +"Look out!" quickly yelled Nort. "It _is_ water, and on the rush, too! +Jump for your lives! It's a flood!" and making a grab for one of the +lanterns, that they might not be left in total blackness, he sprang +toward the rocky side of the tunnel, an example followed by his +companions. + +And the rush of waters filled the underground cave with a mighty, +roaring sound. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE RISING FLOOD + +Stumbling, slipping, sliding, half-falling, bruising themselves on the +sharp rocks, but ever leaping forward toward the sides of the tunnel, +and away from the depressed centre down which they could see the rush +of waters coming, the boy ranchers at last managed to reach the granite +wall. Nort had succeeded in grabbing up one of the lanterns, but there +was no time for Dick or Bud to take one, and the food had to be +abandoned. + +"Climb up! Climb up, if there's a ledge!" shouted Bud. "We'll be +drowned if we can't get above the water!" + +He had, somehow or other, brought up in the rear. Though he did not +admit it, this was because he had shoved his cousins ahead of him, +hoping thus to enable them to gain a safe place. + +And as Nort and Dick glanced back they saw, in the gleam of the one +lantern left alight, a white mass of water bearing down on them, and, +seemingly, filling the tunnel from wall to wall, as it rushed foaming +and murmuring onward. + +It was as though a dam had suddenly burst, or some obstruction had been +removed, allowing the pent-up waters to rush along the accustomed +channel. And if you have ever noticed a dammed-up stream, say in some +gutter, thus quickly released, you can imagine what happened on a +larger scale in the tunnel where the boys were. + +The water, normally, flowed only in the four-foot channel. But now it +spread out on either side, and, of course, was much deeper in the +centre. But as the tunnel sloped from either wall, in a sort of V +shape to the centre channel, naturally the parts nearest the side walls +were less covered by water than the others. + +It was because of this that Bud, Nort and Dick were enabled to maintain +a footing, though they were knee-deep in water in an instant, and the +one remaining lantern had to be held up to prevent it from being +engulfed and extinguished in the sudden flood. + +"Climb up! Climb up!" shouted Bud. "Isn't there some place--some +rocky ledge--where you can find a footing? The water's getting deeper!" + +And this was true. Either the flood was growing at its source (a place +as yet unknown to the boys) or it was running too rapidly, and in too +great a volume, to accommodate itself to the tunnel channel, and was +thus piling up in the vicinity of the boys. + +"What happened? What caused it?" cried Nort. + +"Never mind that--now!" shouted Bud. "Find the highest place you can, +and stick!" + +"Suppose the whole tunnel fills?" asked Dick, trying to pierce the +semi-gloom, and look for a refuge on the rocky wall. + +"If it does we'll have to swim for it," grimly said Bud. "But isn't +there some place where you can climb up?" + +"This looks like a ledge," Dick answered, as he caught sight of a +darker shadow on the rocky wall of the tunnel, above his head, when his +brother swung the lantern. + +"Just what we need!" exclaimed Bud, as he waded through the +ever-deepening water to the side of his cousins. "Up with you! Here, +Nort, I'll hold the lantern until you make it!" + +Thus, again, Bud was seeing that his cousins reached a place of +comparative safety before he looked to himself. For they found the +ledge, once they had scrambled up to it, well above the water, and wide +enough to give shelter and a safe perch for all three. + +"Whew! That was touch and go!" murmured Bud, as he leaned back, half +exhausted, against the rocky wall at the rear of the ledge. + +"I should say so!" gasped Dick. "It all happened so suddenly that I +don't know yet what it was all about." + +"The stream suddenly started flowing again," spoke Bud. "That's all +there was to it. Must have been dammed up some place, and suddenly +released. It's still rising, too," he added, as he leaned forward and +held the lantern down over the ledge where he and his cousins had taken +refuge. + +"Rising?" sharply inquired Nort, and there was a tone of anxiety in his +voice. + +"Yes," remarked Bud, as he swung the lantern to and fro. "We didn't +get up here any too soon, fellows! Look, the water would be up to our +waists down there now, in the most shallow place, and it's got speed +like one of Christy Mathewson's curves!" + +His cousins could see that he had not exaggerated the matter. The +waters were rising. Inch by inch, and foot by foot, the flood was +approaching the crest. Where the boy ranchers had sat in the almost +dry bed of the stream, to eat their lunch, there was now a mad race of +swirling waters. Where they had stood, before climbing up to the ledge +of safety, there was now three feet depth of water. And, as Bud had +said, it was flowing along so swiftly, like the stream which turns a +mill-wheel, that the boys could hardly have been able to keep their +feet had they been down in the current, or even on the weakest edge of +it. + +But, as they were, they were safe for the time being. How long that +would be the case none could tell. They could see, in the gleam of the +one lantern saved in the mad rush, that the stream was coursing along +as it had never coursed before. + +"There must be a powerful lot of water coming out of the reservoir +pipe," Nort remarked. + +"Biggest ever, with all this water behind forcing it out," agreed Bud. +"I hope the pipe holds." + +"It isn't as if the pipe were the only outlet," said Dick. "You know +the water can flow out of the tunnel above, and on either side of the +conduit." + +"Yes," agreed Bud, "and dad had it put in that way on purpose, so if +ever a big flood did come, the tunnel could relieve itself without +ripping away the pipe and reservoir. There's a sort of spillway at one +side of the reservoir, you know." + +The boys from the east had noticed this. Up to now no water had run +off through this auxiliary channel, but it was there for emergencies +such as now had occurred. And the water could find a vent and outlet +down the middle of Flume Valley, as, indeed, the surplus from the +reservoir itself did, when there was any. + +"Well, it sure is queer, and we had a mighty narrow escape," remarked +Nort, as Bud leaned back again with the lantern. "But the fellows back +at the camp will be scared." + +"I reckon they will," admitted Bud. "They'll see the water spouting +out, in a greater volume than ever before, and they'll imagine all +sorts of things have happened to us." + +"Well, nothing has happened yet--except we've lost two perfectly good +lanterns, and what grub we didn't eat," asserted Nort. + +"But something else may happen," said Bud in a low voice, as, once +more, he leaned forward, and again held the lantern over the edge of +the rocky ledge. + +"What?" Dick wanted to know. + +"Look," was what Bud replied. And his cousins, glancing down, saw that +the waters were rising, rising, rising! + +When would they stop? + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +WHERE DID IT GO? + +Pressing back toward the rocky ledge, against which they leaned, gazing +with fearsome eyes at the rising waters, on which the lantern-light +shone fitfully, and almost holding their breaths at times, so great was +the strain, the boy ranchers waited--for what they scarcely knew. And +yet they did, in a measure. + +For they waited to see if the waters would stop rising, a happening, as +they well knew, which, alone, could save their lives. + +As one of them had remarked, they might have to swim for it. But, +looking at the foaming current, dashing along over jagged rocks on +which the boys had more than once stumbled, they knew what a risk that +effort to escape would bring. + +And should the water fill the whole tunnel they would have no earthly +chance! + +For only a fish can exist in a hose or pipe completely filled with +water, and that is what the tunnel would become if the water rose to +the roof--merely a great, underground rocky pipe for the conveying of +the liquid from Pocut River. + +So you can easily imagine with what anxiety Bud, Nort and Dick watched +the rising water. Every now and again one of them would lean over the +ledge, swinging the lantern to and fro, so its gleams would be +reflected in the hurrying, foaming stream, and indicate how fast it was +rising. + +At first the rate of rise had been rapid. But as the boys, again and +again, made observations in the semi-gloom Bud, at length, uttered a +joyful cry. + +"Look!" he shouted, pointing with trembling finger at the foamy flood +close, now, to the top of the ledge. "Look!" + +"What--a big fish?" asked Dick. + +"Fish nothing!" retorted his cousin. "But the water is going down! +Look, it isn't as high as it was. I can see a wet mark where it came +up to, and it's two inches below that now! The flood is going down!" + +"Are you sure?" asked Nort, eagerly. + +"Look for yourselves!" invited Bud, handing over the lantern. + +Nort's observation was confirmatory of his cousin's. + +"She _is_ going down!" remarked Nort. "And just in time, too!" + +How truly he spoke was evidenced by that fact that another inch of rise +would have sent the flood over the ledge on which the boys rested! + +So narrow had been their escape! + +"If she only doesn't begin to rise again, after she starts going +down--as you say she is--we'll be all right," said Dick. "But if she +comes up----" + +He did not finish what he started to say, but his companions knew what +he meant, and they looked each other in the face with grave +apprehensions. + +"The question is now," went on Bud, as he again took an observation and +noted that the flood was still on the descent, "how long we shall have +to stay here." + +"If it's too long we'll be wanting some of that grub which was washed +away," asserted Diet. "In fact I dropped a sandwich half eaten." + +"Same here," remarked his brother. "But let's hope that it will go +down as suddenly as it came up." + +That was all they could do--hope; but it bore fruits, for in about an +hour, as they ascertained by glances at their watches, the flood was +almost down to the normal channel of the underground stream. + +"And if it will only stay there we can venture to keep on to the other +end of the tunnel," spoke Bud. + +"Will you do that?" Dick wanted to know. + +"Why not?" asked Bud. "We want to see what happened, and where this +water goes to when it disappears so suddenly; don't we?" + +"Yes," agreed Dick. "But I thought, after our escape, that we had +better head back for camp." + +"It's about six of one and half a dozen of the other," asserted Bud. +"We're almost half way through the tunnel, now, and we might as well +keep on. I'd like to solve this mystery, and we can't if we call it +off now." + +"That's right," assented Nort. "We don't run any more danger going on +to the river end of the tunnel than we would in going back to the camp +end. That is unless we discover a big cavern, or hole through to +China, in the other end of the tunnel. Even then we might be able to +skirt around it." + +"Let's go on!" suggested Bud, as he prepared to climb down off the +ledge. "This thing has my goat!" + +"Speaking of goats is most appropriate on a cattle ranch," laughed +Nort, and the spirits of all the lads were lighter now. "But let's +keep on to the end for which we started!" + +This was agreed to and, after waiting a little while to make sure that +the waters were not again going to rise, away started the boy ranchers. +They were traveling lighter now, for they only had one lantern, and no +food to carry. + +The remainder of the tunnel was as the first part had been--a great, +uneven tube through the mountain, twisting and turning here and there, +sometimes the roof being so high that it did not show in the swinging +lantern-light, and again being low enough, almost, for the boys to +touch. + +On all sides was evidence that the flood had been here, as it had been +at the place where the boys took refuge. Now and then they came to +deep pools, which they had to skirt, and, in one case, leap over. + +Suddenly, as they were walking along, the lantern which Bud was +carrying went out, leaving them in pitch blackness! + +"Hello! What's the idea?" asked Nort. + +"Did you do it on purpose?" asked Dick. + +"Why, no, of course not!" asserted Bud. "The oil must be gone, though +I filled it before we started, and it ought to have burned longer than +this." + +"Whew! This is tough!" bemoaned Nort. "Left in the dark!" + +"Not altogether!" exclaimed Bud. "I brought some candles!" + +"Great!" voiced Nort. "Light up!" + +Which Bud did, placing a short length of candle inside the lantern, by +fastening it, with some grease that hardened, on top of the oil +reservoir of the wick. + +"But I can't understand what happened to the lantern," went on Bud, +making an examination by means of a second candle, from the store he +had, luckily, placed in his pocket. "Oh, yes, I can!" he went on. + +"What?" asked Dick. + +"One of the soldered seams of the lantern oil tank started, and the oil +has leaked out. Guess one of us must have banged it against a stone +when we made the rush. But we'll be all right. A candle in the +lantern is nearly as good as the regular wick." + +It was not quite so good, but the boys made the best of it as they +tramped on through the tunnel, hoping to reach the river end without +another flood, or any mishap. + +"The water seems to be behaving very nicely," observed Nort, as they +all saw that the stream was well within its rocky channel. + +"But what gets me," said Bud, "is where it goes to--when it goes. I +mean where does it disappear to? We haven't come to a single branch +tunnel, or any other passage that could drain off the river water." + +"That's right," agreed his cousins. + +"But maybe we'll find it further on," suggested Nort. + +"We'll soon know, for we must be close to the other end now," observed +Bud. "Our candles are holding out well." + +They had come several miles, as they knew by the time consumed. The +way through the tunnel had been uphill all the way, as it must needs be +to allow the water to run down to the reservoir in Flume Valley. But, +so far, they had seen nothing to indicate any side channel for the +stream--any place that might drain off the water, and return it in such +a sudden volume as to cause a flood. + +"I can't understand it," Bud remarked as he swung the lantern to and +fro. "It sure is a puzzle. Where does the water disappear?" + +His cousins could offer no solution. All the way along they had +carefully scanned the underground stream, but there appeared no break +in its uneven, rocky bank in the middle of the tunnel. + +"Well, let's keep on," suggested Nort. "We aren't at the end yet, and +it may be close to the intake--I mean the mysterious influence--that +shuts off our water supply and turns it on again, may be there. +Forward, march!" he cried gaily. + +Together they started off, having come to a momentary halt to inspect a +place wider and deeper than usual, when Bud suddenly came to a stop and +exclaimed: + +"Some one is coming!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A NIGHT ATTACK + +Instantly the boy ranchers came to a halt, standing there in the +tunnel, beside the running water. They had nearly reached the other +end of the flume, and could dimly see, ahead of them, a faint glow, +which told of daylight to come. Bud, who was carrying the lantern, +made shift to hide it behind the bodies of himself and his cousins, so +that the unknown, approaching, might not have them at a disadvantage, +he being in the dark. + +"Who you reckon it is?" asked Nort. He and his brother were rapidly +falling into the custom of using the picturesque if not always elegant +talk of the west. Nort spoke in a whisper, and Bud answered in the +same tone. + +"Can't imagine who it may be," spoke the western lad, "but if it's +Hank, Del Pinzo, or any of their gang----" + +He did not finish, but a slight movement told that he was freeing his +.45 in its holster, an example quickly followed by Nort and Dick. + +Meanwhile the steps continued to approach, echoing loudly in the +vaulted tunnel, as if the maker of them had no design to conceal his +movements. In another few seconds the boys saw, looming in front of +them, as displayed by the gleam of their half-hidden lantern, a bulky +figure. At the same moment the figure seemed to become aware of the +presence in the tunnel of others besides himself. + +"Who's there?" came in sharp challenge. + +And what a relief it was to the boy ranchers when they heard that voice. + +"Slim!" cried Bud. "Slim Degnan!" + +"That you, Bud?" called the foreman of Diamond X ranch, as he +recognized the voice of his employer's son, while Bud, in turn, sensed +whom the looming figure was. + +"Sure!" Bud joyously answered. "And Nort and Dick are here! Say, +what's the matter with our water? Is there a stoppage at the dam?" + +"Nary a stop, but your dad got a telephone from your side-partners at +the valley camp, saying you'd started through the tunnel to see what +caused the shut-off. I happened to be over near Square M, seeing if I +could get on the track of that cattle epidemic, and they relayed your +dad's message on to me. So I hit the trail for here." + +"What was dad's message?" Bud wanted to know. + +"Why, he said you, and them tenderfeet---- No, I'll take _that_ back!" +Slim hastened to say as he recalled all that Nort and Dick had done. +"Anyhow, he said they shouldn't have allowed you to come in the tunnel +alone, and he asked some of the men, from this end, to go in and see if +they could locate you." + +"You found us," said Bud. + +"Well," resumed Slim, "I just got here, heard the news and I started +in. Some of the others are coming, but I guess we don't need to make +any search. You're here!" + +"And more by good luck than good management," asserted Dick. + +"How's that?" asked Slim, as they all started for the opening at the +river end of the tunnel, where daylight dimly showed. + +"Why, when we started in at the other side the stream was dry," +explained Bud. "There wasn't a drop coming through the pipe into the +reservoir, and we left, early this morning, to see what the trouble +was. When we got half way through the stream suddenly began flowing, +and there was a regular flood. Only that we found a ledge to climb up +on, we'd been drowned!" + +"As bad as that!" gasped Slim. + +"Every bit!" Dick asserted. + +"But tell me," went on Bud, "did the water stop at the river end, Slim? +Was there any stoppage at the dam or pipe?" + +"Nary a stop, Bud," Slim answered. "They told me, when I started in, +that the water had been flowing all night, as usual, and they didn't +see why you claimed there was none at your end." + +"By Zip Foster! But there's something mighty strange here!" cried the +boy rancher. + +"You intimated good and plenty that time!" declared Slim as he and the +boys reached the river end of the tunnel, where the intake pipe took +the water from the Pocut stream, delivering it to the tunnel. + +"But here's a queer part of it," went on Dick, as they joined the other +cowboys who were preparing to follow Slim in, and search for the +Diamond X lads. "No such body of water, as so nearly overwhelmed us, +ever came through this pipe," and he pointed to the one that tapped the +dammed-up water of the river. + +"That's right!" agreed Bud. "This thing gets worse and worse! We'll +never get to the bottom of this mystery!" + +"You're right!" declared one of the cowboys. "When you're dealing with +them underground water-courses you never know what you're up against. +The old Indians and Spaniards who lived here hundreds of years ago had +their own troubles, and maybe they wished them same troubles on to you." + +"What you mean?" asked Slim. "That's all bosh!" + +"Bosh nothin'!" declared another. "You read history an' you'll get +lots of cases where streams showed up, and then vanished under +mountains, more than once." + +"A heap sight you know about _hist'ry_!" laughed Slim in good-natured +raillery. + +"Well, this is sure queer, anyhow!" declared Bud. "Is there any +history of the stream that waters our valley?" he asked the cowboy who +had made the assertion. + +"Not your particular one," was the answer, "but there's lots of just +such cases mentioned--hidden water-courses and all that." + +"Well, there's something wrong," agreed Bud, "and I believe there must +be some place along the tunnel where our water shunts itself off at +times, and turns itself on again. We were looking for just such a +place." + +"And you didn't find it?" asked Slim. + +"Nary a find!" asserted Bud. + +"But we aren't going to give up, just on that account!" said Nort. + +"Bet you not!" added his brother. "We'll try it again, and take a +canoe with us, so if the dry water-course suddenly turns wet, we can +paddle along it." + +"Well, it seems to be all right now," spoke Slim. "And you'd better +'phone your father that you're all right, Bud. He'll be anxious to +hear." + +And after Mr. Merkel had been assured, over the wire, of the safe +transit of his son and nephews through the tunnel, the boys' camp was +called up, to let Old Billee and the others know that no accident had +happened. + +"Gosh! I'm glad to hear that!" said the veteran cowboy over the wire. +"When we see that there water come gushin' out, we thought sure you was +goners, Bud!" + +"Then the water is running again?" Bud asked. + +"Absolutely!" declared Billee. "You comin' back here?" + +"Sure! But _over_ the mountain--not _under_ it." + +Bud and his boy rancher chums remained that night at the store +settlement near the dam, getting beds in what passed for a hotel. It +was too late to secure horses and ride over Snake Mountain trail back +to Flume Valley. + +While thus having a night of leisure, and seeing such sights as were to +be viewed in the little town, Bud and his chums discussed the queer +situation of the mysteriously disappearing and reappearing water. But, +talk as they did, and venture opinions as they and their cowboy friends +did, no one could hit on a solution. + +"We'll just have to make another and more careful inspection," declared +Nort. + +"That's what!" agreed Bud. + +They learned from Slim that the situation regarding the cattle epidemic +at Square M ranch was not much better. All stock which had not been +exposed to the infection had been removed, either to Diamond X, +Triangle B or Flume Valley, and the infected steers remaining there +were being treated by a veterinarian whom Mr. Merkel had engaged. + +"But they're slowly dying off," Slim reported. "And I don't believe +Square M ranch will ever be safe to use again." + +"Why not?" asked Bud. + +"Because there must be some infection in the grass there to have made +so many of the cattle sicken and die." + +"Maybe it was something else," suggested Nort. + +"Well, maybe," assented the foreman. "It's about as mysterious as that +underground river of yours. Had any more warnings, Bud?" + +"No, I guess they're done with. And I believe it's a natural cause, +and not due to any work of enemies, that accounts for the queer way our +flume acts." + +"Um!" spoke Slim musingly, and that was all he would say. + +Borrowing horses from their friends, the boy ranchers next day made the +trip over Snake Mountain and returned to camp, finding matters there in +good shape. There was an abundance of water in the reservoir, and the +pipe was flowing freely. + +For more than a week nothing happened. The cattle at Flume Valley, +including those of the boy ranchers, and the herd transferred from +Square M to save it from the epidemic, were doing well, abundant grass +and water being their portions. + +There was no lack of hard work for the boys and their cowboy +assistants, for it was not all easy sailing. Occasionally bunches of +steers would stray, and have to be driven back by hard riding. There +were night watches to be carried on, and another bunch of cattle was +shipped away. + +Bud, Dick and Nort hazed them over to the railroad, and on the trip a +small-sized stampede gave them all they wanted to handle. But they +were true sons of the west, and did not complain. + +"Whew! That was hot, while it lasted!" exclaimed Bud, as he and +cousins managed to get the stampeding animals quieted, after they had +tried so hard to run off by themselves, in varying directions. + +"Yes, a thing like that gives you an appetite," remarked Dick. + +"As if _you_ ever needed any stimulant!" laughed Nort. "I never saw +the time yet when you had to be offered an inducement to sit up to +grub!" + +"You either!" retorted the stout lad. "But, speaking of grub, when do +we eat, Bud?" + +"Might as well make it right soon," was the answer. "Now that we have +the steers quieted they'll be glad enough to take it easy. I planned +to water 'em at the next stopping place, and that will give us a chance +to see what Buck Tooth put up for us." + +"Stay there all night; will we?" asked Nort. + +"Might as well," assented his cousin. "No use running all the fat off +our stock. We want 'em to weigh as heavy as possible." + +This was good business tact on the part of the boy ranchers. For +cattle are generally sold by weight, either "on the hoof," which means +alive and as they stand in the stock yards, or by weight after being +slaughtered. In the case of ranchers "on the hoof" is generally +understood. + +And driving a bunch of steers at too great a speed from the ranch to +the railroad would make them thin, "running off their fat," so to +speak, thus losing all the advantages of the rich fodder to which they +had had access. And when it is considered that it is not at all +difficult to cause a steer to lose from ten to fifteen pounds by means +of poor driving, and when to this statement is added the fact that this +loss is multiplied in hundreds of steers, Bud's state of mind can +easily be imagined. + +"Yes, we'll get 'em quieted down, and take it easy ourselves," +suggested the Western lad. And, a little later when some of the steers +broke into a run, Nort exclaimed: + +"Are they stampeding again?" + +"No. I reckon they just smell water," Bud answered. + +This proved to be true, and this contagion spread all through the herd, +though with no ill effects, for the water hole was not far off and, +reaching it, the animals stopped to drink. + +There was some confusion and excitement because so many thirsty cattle +all wanted to drink at once, but it did not last long, and Bud, Nort +and Dick were glad when they could slip from their saddles, tossing the +reins over their ponies' heads as an intimation to the animals not to +stray. + +"Oh boy! But I'm tired!" exclaimed Nort, sighing. + +"Add hungry to that and I'm with you," said his brother. For there had +been days of long and difficult work in preparing this bunch of cattle +for shipment. + +"Getting tired of the game?" asked Bud, as he rustled up some sticks of +greasewood to make a fire over which they might boil coffee and fry +bacon. + +"Not on your life!" laughed Nort. "We're in the game to stick!" + +"Sure thing!" asserted Dick. + +They made a simple but ample meal over the camp fire and then, as +evening settled down over the vast prairies, and quiet enfolded them +like some soft mantle, they lay on their blankets and gazed at the +feeding cattle. + +The steers were very quiet now, evidently feeling quite satisfied with +the manner in which they had been treated, and having, of course, no +intimation of the fate in store for them. They had food and water and +that is all they required. Overhead was the cloudless sky, in which +sparkling stars were beginning to stud themselves. + +"I hope the market is well up in price when we get to the yards," +observed Bud, idly chewing on a spear of grass. + +"Yes, it would be dandy to get a big price for this stock," agreed Nort. + +The boy ranchers were rapidly becoming interested in the business end +of their venture, as they had been, for some time, in the more +picturesque side. The difference of a fraction of a cent in the price +of cattle on the hoof meant the difference of several hundred of +dollars where there were many tons of meat to be considered. + +"Well, we'd better ride herd a little while, to make sure they get +bedded down quietly," suggested Bud, as it began to get darker. "Then +we'll roll up and snooze ourselves." + +This "bedding down" of the cattle, meaning thereby inducing them to get +quiet enough so they would lie down contentedly chewing their cuds, was +part of the routine of a cowboy's life. + +"Some of 'em have already started in," observed Nort, as he went up to +his pony, which, with the other two animals, had been contentedly +grazing. "Looks like they'd lived here all their lives." + +He indicated a score or more of the steer's that were stretched out on +the rich grass which at once formed their food and their bed. + +"Yes, I reckon we'll have a quiet night," observed Bud. + +The three chums slowly rode around the bunch of cattle, the lads +occasionally breaking into the chorus of some song. + +The cattle seemed to like this singing--not that this is to be +considered a compliment to the voices of Nort, Dick and Bud, though +their tones were far from unmusical. But the fact is that animals of +most sorts are fond of music in any form, and nothing so seems to +soothe and quiet a bunch of cattle, especially at night, as the singing +of the herders. + +Perhaps it is due to this fact that we have so many cowboy songs with +an interminable number of verses, in which there is little sense or +sequence--a mere jumble of words, often repeated. The cattle seem to +care more for the tune than for the sentiment. + +At any rate the bunch from Flume Valley grew more quiet as the night +became darker, and when the remains of their camp fire gleamed dully in +the blackness, as they made their way back to it, Bud and his cousins +considered their work done for the day. + +"We won't stand any regular watch," Bud said. "I think they'll be all +right. But if we should hear a disturbance--I mean any one of us--he +can awaken the others, and we'll do whatever we have to." + +"And if we have any luck we won't have to roll out," observed Nort, as +he spread out his blankets and tarpaulin, which last was to keep the +dampness of the ground away. + +"Then I'm going to cross my fingers for luck," observed Dick. + +Save for the occasional distant howl of a coyote, or the uneasy +movement of an occasional steer, with, now and then, the clashing of +the horns of some of the beasts, there was silence in the camp. Bud +was the first to fall asleep, because he was more accustomed to this +sort of life than were his cousins. But they were rapidly falling in +with the ways of the west, which teaches a wayfarer to consider home +wherever he hangs up his hat, and his bed any place he can throw his +blanket and saddle. + +But finally Nort and Dick dropped off into slumber, which became +sounder as the hours of night passed. All three of the boy ranchers +were tired and they were in the most healthful state imaginable, +brought about by their life in the open. + +"What hour it was Dick had no idea, but he was suddenly awakened by +sensing some movement near him--too near for comfort considering his +exposed sleeping position. For he felt something cold and clammy at +the back of his neck, as though a chunk of ice, or a hand dipped in +cold water, had touched him. + +"Hi! Who's doing that?" yelled Dick, for he had a sudden dream that he +was back at school, and some one was playing a trick on him. "Cut it +out!" + +No sooner had he spoken than he realized that he had awakened Nort and +Bud, for by the flickering light of the embers of the fire he could see +them sitting up and staring over at him. + +"What's the matter?" demanded Bud. + +"Something tickled the back of my neck," declared Dick. "I guess a +coyote must have been picking up scraps of food, and smelled of me. +Hope he didn't take me for a dead one!" + +"Coyote!" exclaimed Bud. "I don't believe you could get one to come +near you, not as long as you breathed. It must have been a----" + +"Snake!" broke in Nort, without thinking of what the word might mean. + +"Wow! Don't say that!" cried Dick, and he leaped up, scattering his +blanket and tarpaulin each in a different direction. + +"Shut up!" commanded Bud, laughing. "Do you want to start the cattle +off again? If it was a snake it won't hurt you, and it was probably +more scared than you, Dick." + +"Yes--maybe!" said the other. He lighted a stick of greasewood at the +fire, and looked about his part of the sleeping ground. But he found +nothing in the animal line. + +"Guess you dreamed it!" said Nort. + +"I certainly did not!" emphatically declared his brother. + +"Well, go to sleep again," advised Bud. "If you feel it a second time +call me!" + +"Huh! I'll do that all right!" declared Dick. He carefully shifted +his sleeping place, making a searching examination of the ground before +spreading out his tarpaulin. And he was some little time in dropping +off to slumber again. + +But there was no further disturbance in the night, and in the morning +Bud looked for marks on the ground, declaring the visitor had been a +prairie dog, which Dick declared his unbelief in, sticking to the snake +theory as being more sensational. + +After breakfast they started to drive the cattle again, reaching the +railroad yards and successfully transacting the business of selling +their stock. + +It was the night that Bud and his cousins returned from having driven +the steers to the railroad yard that something happened which again +brought to the front all their worries and anxieties. + +They were all seated about the camp fire, and Pocut Pete had just +arisen, remarking that he would get ready for his turn at night-riding, +when there was a sort of hissing in the air over the heads of those +gathered about the blaze, and something hit the ground in the midst of +the circle. + +"What's that?" exclaimed Nort + +"An arrow!" answered Bud, and so it proved. An Indian arrow--of the +sort used by the Redmen years ago, and hard to pick up now, even as +relics--quivered in the ground near the blaze. And by the flickering +flames it was seen that a paper was rolled about it. + +In an instant Bud had leaped to his feet, plucked the arrow from the +ground, and torn off the paper. By the light of the fire he read it. + +"Another warning!" cried Bud. + +"What does it say?" demanded Dick. + +Bud read: + + +"Two wasn't enough. This is the third and last! Leave Flume Valley!" + + +There was silence for a moment, and then Bud, crushing the scrawled +warning in his hand, cried: + +"I'd like to see 'em drive me out!" + +"That's th' way to talk!" shouted Yellin' Kid. "We'll stick!" + +They gathered about, discussing the sinister warning that had been sent +to them in such a sensational manner. There was no clue to tell where +it had come from, for no one had noticed the direction whence the arrow +had been shot. The message itself was written, or, rather, printed on +a piece torn from a paper bag, and the writing was in pencil. The +paper was common enough in those parts, and the use of printing, in +place of handwriting, would, it seemed, preclude any tracing. + +"We'd better keep a double watch to-night," suggested Bud, when a hasty +inspection in the vicinity of the camp had revealed no one. + +"We shore will!" asserted Old Billee. + +The night hours passed, a double guard watching with keen eyes for any +sign of strangers approaching the reservoir or the cattle. But, in +spite of all precautions, the half-expected happened. + +It was toward morning, when Nort and Dick had turned out of warm beds +to relieve Pocut Pete and Snake Purdee that a confused noise at the +extreme end of the valley gave notice that something was wrong. + +"What's that?" asked Bud, who had ridden into camp at the conclusion of +his tour of duty. + +As if in answer came distant shots, the howls of coyotes and the +snorting of cattle, mingled with a rush which told its own story. + +"Stampede!" yelled Bud. "They're trying to stampede our herd and drive +'em off! Come on, fellows!" + +And all within the sound of his voice rallied to repel the night +attack, for such it proved to be. + +Leaping into their saddles, Nort and Dick followed Bud toward the scene +of the disturbance. They saw the cattle running to and fro, and in the +slivers of light that leaped from the muzzles of guns which were shot +off at intervals, they descried figures swiftly riding backward and +forward, evidently trying to cut out bunches of cattle. + +Action had followed rapidly on the heels of the sinister arrow warning. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE BRANDING IRON + +"Come on, boys! Come on!" shouted Bud, as he spurred off in the +darkness, followed by Nort and Dick. "They're trying to drive 'em off +through the lower end of the valley! We've got to stop 'em!" + +"You said it!" shouted Dick. + +"Who are they?" yelled Nort + +Bud had no time to answer. What was needed, then, was quick action to +prevent his own and his cousins', as well as his father's stock from +the Square M ranch, being driven off by unscrupulous rustlers. + +For that this night attack was made by these marauders of the plains +was not to be doubted. + +"Ride hard, boys! Ride hard!" shouted Old Billee as he galloped up +beside the boy ranchers. + +And they were riding hard--all of them, including the cow punchers who +had come in from their night's duties, expecting to be relieved. It +was at this favorable--for them--moment that the rascals had made their +attack. + +It was so dark that only, indistinctly, could the forms of raiders be +made out. But there were several of them, leaning low over the necks +of their galloping steeds, and endeavoring to create a panic among the +cattle so that a stampede would result. Once this started it would be +a comparatively easy matter for them to "cut out" as many choice +specimens as possible, driving them to some secret place. There the +brands could be "blurred," or changed, and Diamond X Second would be +out several thousands of dollars. + +"There they are!" yelled Bud, as, riding between Nort and Dick, he saw +a group of men swinging their big hats and heard them shouting to +frighten the already thoroughly roused cattle. + +But though Bud thus indicated the presence of the rustlers it was not a +very clear sight of them that he or his companions had. Only for the +fact that those of Flume Valley rode together, and saw the indistinct +forms ahead of them, could it be made certain that the unknown ones +were the enemy. + +"Crack!" + +Bud's gun shot out a menacing warning, for he had fired high in the +air, above the heads of the rustlers. He had borne in mind his +father's injunction never to shoot at a human being unless vital +necessity required it. + +"And I'd rather lose all my cattle than kill anyone," Bud said +afterward. "Unless I had to do it to save my life." + +It was for this reason that he had fired high, and his example was +followed by his cousins. + +But that this consideration on the part of our friends was not +appreciated, was made plain, a moment later, when Old Billee exclaimed: + +"That was a close one!" + +His words followed the whining song of a bullet as it zipped through +the air, too close to the heads of himself and the boy ranchers to be +comfortable. + +"I'm goin' t' give 'em some of th' same medicine!" shouted Yellin' Kid, +and his gun spat fire, but straight out, and not at a high angle. + +Following it, almost instantly, was a yell of pain from one of the +rustlers--which one could not be told because of the mix-up and the +darkness, but it was a yell nevertheless. + +"You winged one!" cried Snake Purdee. + +"I meant to!" was the Kid's grim answer. + +"Fire high, boys!" cried Bud. "If we can scare 'em off, so much the +better!" + +"Don't reckon they're th' kind that scares easy," objected Old Billee. +"But we've got 'em on the run!" he exclaimed, a moment or two later, +when Bud and his party had ridden around some intervening bunches of +cattle, and were headed straight for the night attackers. + +This seemed to describe the situation. So promptly had the boys of +Flume Valley ridden out to repell the raid that the rustlers had no +time to stampede the cattle, and cut out some to drive away. Now it +seemed there must be a clash--a coming together of the two forces. + +But the rustlers, unscrupulous as they were, evidently knew when +discretion was the better part of valor. They fired several more +shots, one of which scratched Old Billee while another gave an ugly +wound to Snake Purdee. + +Then, with yells of defiance, and before our boys could come close +enough to recognize any of the raiders, the rustlers galloped off, not +having succeeded in driving away any cattle. + +But their attack had not been without damage to Flume Valley stock. +For two valuable steers had been shot, and so wounded that they had to +be killed, while several calves were trampled on and crushed into +shapeless masses. + +This, together with two wounded men, Old Billee and Snake, made up the +sum total of the casualties on the part of the Diamond X Second outfit. + +"But they're marked!" shouted Yellin' Kid as he and the others rode +back to camp. "I got one, I'm sure!" + +"I fired low, after I saw they were doing the same, and I saw one +nearly slump out of his saddle," declared old Billee. + +"I'd like to know if they were any of the Hank Fisher or Del Pinzo +gang," said Bud. + +"I wouldn't put it past them," asserted Snake. "We'll ride over t' +Hank's place, casual like, t'-day, an' see if any of his men are hurt." + +Snake spoke rightly of "to-day," for it was getting sunrise-light when +the battle was over, and the party returned to the tents near the flume +reservoir. + +The night of excitement, following the mysterious warning sent by the +Indian arrow, had ended, and everyone welcomed the hot, fragrant coffee +made by Buck Tooth. + +When Snake's wound and Billee's scratch had been bandaged, the dead +calves buried and the best part of the killed steers cut off for fresh +beef, Bud and his friends took what might be termed an accounting. + +The boy ranchers, with Old Billee, rode back over the ground covered in +the attack of the night. The veteran cow puncher pointed out where the +rustlers had ridden into the valley, over a pass that crossed a low +mountain range, which connected, in a fashion, Buffalo Ridge and Snake +Mountain. This ridge formed the lower boundary of Bud's range, and +once the cattle had been driven over this they could easily have been +hazed to Hank Fisher's Double Z ranch. + +"Well, there's nothing to make sure it was any of Del Pinzo's gang, +except general suspicion," remarked Bud, as they were about to ride +back to camp. "What's the matter?" he asked, for, with an exclamation, +Nort had leaped from his saddle. The eastern lad was picking up +something from the ground that had been so lately trampled by steers +and horses. + +"Look!" exclaimed Nort, and he held up a branding iron. + +"One of ours?" asked Bud, in rather a commonplace voice. + +"Not exactly," Nort answered. "It's marked with a double Z!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +QUEER ACTIONS + +What effect this announcement had on Dick and Bud can easily be +imagined. Both leaped from their saddles, as Nort had done, and +gathered close to him as he held the branding iron in his hand. + +It was of the usual type, an iron plate, which had been cast in a +mould, so that the device--two Z letters--formed a depression in the +smooth surface of the iron plate. On the outer edge was a circle, so +that when the brand was heated, and pressed on the hide of a steer, +calf or maverick it would burn the impression of a double Z inside a +ring--the mark of Hank Fisher's cattle. + +"Whew!" exclaimed Dick. "This makes it look bad for them, Bud!" + +"Oh, not necessarily, though I'm glad we found it," spoke the western +lad. + +"Why isn't it suspicious?" asked Nort, whose high hopes had been rather +dashed by Bud's somewhat cool reception of Dick's statement. + +"Oh, it's _suspicious_ all right!" Bud hastened to say, "and don't +imagine I'm making light of you finding this, Nort! I'm mighty glad +you did! Only we can't make it look bad for Hank Fisher, or the Double +Z crowd unless we can fasten this on them." + +"You mean we can't prove they dropped it here during the raid last +night?" asked Nort, as he vaulted into the saddle. + +"That's it," spoke Bud. "It does look suspicious, I'll admit. But you +see while this is our range, we couldn't make a fuss just because some +cowboy from Double Z rode over it. That wouldn't be right. And what's +to hinder this having been dropped by some cowboy who was merely riding +over our range?" + +"That's possible," admitted Dick. + +"But I don't believe it," asserted Nort. + +"Nor I," chimed in Bud. "But you got to go slow in making accusations +out west, unless you're ready to back your opinion up with a gun; and +we don't want to do that." + +"No," Nort admitted. "But Old Billee and Snake said they were going to +ride over to Double Z to-day, to sort of size up the situation. So +what's to prevent 'em taking this branding iron along and asking, +casual like, if they don't want it back?" + +"Nothing to stop that," said Bud with a grin. "In fact that's just +what we'll do. Come on, we'll hit the trail for the camp and make a +sort of raid on Double Z--only we'll make it to-morrow instead of +to-day, as it's too late for a long ride." + +There were murmurs of surprise and excitement at the camp, when the +boys rode in with the Double Z branding iron that Nort had picked up at +the scene of the raid. + +"They dropped that last night, sure as horned toads!" cried Snake +Purdee, whose wound was excuse enough for not being out on duty. + +"I reckon," agreed Pocut Pete, who likewise was off duty. "Let's see +that," and he reached for the iron which had a wooden handle to enable +a cowboy to manipulate the marker when the branding end was hot. + +Bud, so Nort and Dick thought, looked rather curiously at Pocut Pete +while the latter was examining the iron. And when the strange +cowboy--strange in the sense that he had not been long in Mr. Merkel's +service--took out his knife and began whittling away at the wooden +handle, Bud uttered a sharp cry of: + +"Stop!" + +"What's the matter?" asked Pocut Pete, with an assumption of innocence, +which was so plainly an assumption that Nort and Dick exchanged rapid +glances. + +"Don't cut off those initials!" went on Bud. "Maybe by them we can +tell who owns the iron." + +"Initials!" exclaimed Pocut Pete. "I don't see any initials!" + +"There they are," and Bud pointed to some, rather faintly cut, on a +flat place in the handle. "E. C. are the letters, though I don't know +anybody with them at Double Z." + +"I don't, either," said Pocut Pete. "In fact, I didn't see them +letters, Bud. I was just whittling the handle to see what kind of wood +it was. Thought maybe I could tell by that." + +"All right," spoke Bud, as he again assumed charge of the branding +iron. And Pocut Pete, with a sharp look at the young rancher, went out +to the corral where the spare ponies were kept. + +"Was he really trying to cut out those initials?" asked Nort, as the +three boy ranchers passed on to the grub tent, for it was the joyful +time to eat--one of the three joyful times that came each day. + +"I wouldn't say he was doing it _deliberately_," spoke Bud, "but he +certainly _was_ whittling near those letters. And if he had cut them +off the owner of the branding iron could easily claim it wasn't his." + +"That was queer," declared Dick. + +"Very," assented Bud. "In fact Pocut Pete has acted queer ever since +he's been here. I don't like him, and as soon as dad has another +puncher to spare I'm going to ask for a change." + +The remainder of that day and the night passed quietly. There was no +other alarm, and riding herd was an easy task. Nor was there any +stoppage of the water, which ran freely out through the pipe from the +underground tunnel as though there had never been any interruption of +its very necessary service. + +"Well, let's go!" exclaimed Bud next day, as he and his cousins saddled +their ponies, and Old Billee called for Yellin' Kid to help catch a +rather frisky pinto that the old cowboy was going to ride. + +"Over to Double Z?" asked Nort. + +"Yes, we'll take a sort of a look around their place, and hand back +this iron," went on Bud, as he slung the implement to his saddle by a +loop of his lariat. + +The ride to Double Z was pleasant enough, for soon the boys and Old +Billee struck the hill trail, where it was cooler than down in the +valley. + +But if they hoped to discover any incriminating evidence at Hank +Fisher's place they were disappointed. + +There was no sign of Del Pinzo--in fact that wily Mexican half-breed +was seldom at the ranch proper. Nor was Hank at home. But his foreman +met the boys and Old Billee. + +"Hear about the racket over at our place?" asked Bud, easily enough, +but with a beating heart. He and his cousins looked around for any +signs of wounded men, but saw none. + +"What racket?" asked Ike Johnson, the foreman. + +"Rustlers," put in Old Billee. "They scratched me, shot up Snake +Purdee and dropped this--or at least we found this after the mix-up +when we'd druv 'em off!" and he took the branding iron from Bud's +saddle loop. + +"You don't mean to say----" began Ike, with an ugly tone to his voice. + +"Don't mean t' say nawthin'!" drawled Old Billee. "That's one of your +irons, I take it." + +"Yes, it is," growled the foreman slowly. "But that don't mean----" + +"Course it don't!" pleasantly interrupted the old cowboy, giving the +young ranchers a slight signal to let him do the talking. "One of your +boys dropped it, likely, ridin' short-cut across our place, Ike." + +"Yes, I remember now, Ed Carr said he lost his. This is it," and the +foreman of Double Z pointed to the initials. + +"Well, tell Ed--is he here now?" asked Billee, interrupting himself. + +For an instant--and for an instant only--Ike Johnson hesitated. Then +he answered: + +"No, Ed's ridin' line. I'll give him this when he comes in." + +"All right," spoke Billee, with a smile. "We was just passin' and +stopped with it. How's things, Ike?" he asked with an effort to be +friendly. + +"Oh, so-so! Might be wuss, an' might be a hull lot better." + +"I reckon it's that way all over," Billee made answer. "Well, boys," +he resumed, "might as well ride back. You gittin' all the water you +can use from Pocut River, ain't you, Ike?" he asked, turning in his +saddle. + +"Better ask th' boss about that," was the sullen retort. "I reckon +he'll have suthin' t' say, soon, that you Diamond X folks won't like!" + +"Is that a threat?" asked Bud quickly. + +"Easy, son, easy!" cautioned Old Billee. + +"You can make anythin' yo' like of it!" sneered the Double Z foreman. + +And then the boy ranchers and Old Billee rode off. + +"Well, we didn't find out much," said Nort, when they were on the +homeward trail. + +"No, but we let 'em know we found that branding iron, and that we knew +where it belonged," spoke Bud. "That's something!" + +They were rather late getting back to camp, for Dick's pony went lame, +and the others accommodated their pace to his. It was dusk when the +little party hit the borders of Diamond X Second, and saw the grazing +cattle. + +Bud saw something else, for as he rode ahead he called: + +"What's he doing?" + +"Who?" asked Nort. + +"Pocut Pete," replied Bud. "Looks like he was trying to brand one of +our cattle with his knife! Look! That's mighty queer!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"GERMS!" + +Pocut Pete did not become aware of the approach of the boy ranchers and +Old Billee until they were almost upon him. He was either so intent on +what he was doing, or else the fact that the ponies were on a grassy +footing made their advance practically noiseless, that, seemingly, he +heard nothing. + +However it was, the cowboy, about whom Bud entertained suspicious, kept +on with what he was doing--something strange to one of the +milder-tempered steers. Something "mighty queer," as Bud had said in a +whisper to his chums. Which whisper accounted for the fact that Pocut +Pete had not heard the voice. + +So it was not until their shadows, mingling with those of the +descending night, fell athwart him that the cowboy looked up with a +start. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Pocut Pete, and then Bud and the others saw that he had +a knife in his hand, and something else. Something that glistened when +Old Billee struck a match to light his pipe. For the old cowboy had, +long ago, passed up the inevitable paper cigaret, and used the more +sedate form of the weed. + +"What's the idea?" asked Bud, and his question seemed to give Pocut +Pete a chance to pull himself together, to answer with more coolness +than he had exhibited by his first exclamation. + +"This steer had some sort of a growth on his shoulder--like a wart," +explained the cowboy. "I was just seeing if I could cut it off." + +"You'd better be careful!" warned Old Billee. + +"Why?" asked Pocut Pete so quickly that the other's remark might have +well carried a threat, which, in the tone Billee used it, did not. + +"You may get horned," went on the veteran cow puncher. For many of the +cattle on the range of Bud and his cousins "wore their horns long," so +to speak. Gradually the dehorning system was spreading through the +west, but such an innovation, found to be most practical from all +standpoints, took time to grow. + +"Oh, this chap isn't dangerous," went on Pocut Pete with a laugh, +closing his rather large pocket knife with a snap. "All the same, if +you don't want me to snip off that wart I won't." + +"I wouldn't," said Bud. "Not but what I'm glad to have you take an +interest in the cattle," he went on, "but cutting one with a knife +might bring on blood poisoning." + +"Yes, an' jabbin' a knife into one might set it wild, an' it would rush +off an' start a stampede," said Billee. + +"I realized that," admitted Pocut Pete, "so that's why I didn't do it +until I got this steer off by himself." + +He spoke this truly enough, for the lone animal he had been "operating" +on was some distance from the main herd. + +"I never saw a wart on a steer," spoke Bud, as he urged his pony nearer +to where the strange cowboy stood on the ground close to the beef +animal. "It's queer----" + +There was a sudden movement. Pocut Pete leaped back and the steer, as +though taking fright at Bud's advance, lowered its head, and, with a +loud bellow, sprang away. + +"I told you so!" called out Old Billee. "You might 'a' got horned, +Pete!" + +"Oh, I was watching," came the answer. "Yes, warts do, sometimes, come +on cattle," he went on. "I've cut off lots of 'em. Some beef men +won't pass 'em if they have any. I thought I was doing you a favor." +He spoke in an injured tone of voice. + +"Well, maybe you were," admitted Bud. "First I thought you were +someone else." + +"One of the Double Z bunch?" asked Pocut Pete with a laugh. "Did you +find out anything over there?" he inquired as he caught his pony, which +had been standing near-by, and leaped into the saddle. + +"Nary a thing," voiced Old Billee. + +And then, as the group, Pocut Pete included, headed back for camp, the +old cowboy broke into song, roaring out: + + "Send me a letter, kid, + Write it yo'self! + Put in some news of th' city. + For it's lonesome out here, + 'Neath th' blue, starry sky, + An' cowboys don't get any pity!" + + +"What's struck you?" laughed Bud. + +"Oh, I feel sorter so-so," affirmed Old Billee. "We're in for a storm, +I reckon." + +"And that's your weather indication!" chuckled Nort. + +"Yeppy," agreed the veteran, and he broke into another verse of the +interminable song--one of the series that cowboys love to warble. + +"What do you think of Pocut Pete?" asked Dick of Bud in the seclusion +of their own tent that night. + +"Oh, I don't know what to think," was the answer. "I did have him down +for a drinker, or a doper, but he doesn't seem to be either, and he +does his work well. Only I don't know what to make of his actions +to-night. Warts! On a steer! That sounded fishy to me!" + +"Same here!" agreed Dick. + +But as several days passed, and nothing more suspicious occurred, the +action of Pocut Pete was rather forgotten. Nor was there any further +trouble with the rustlers, or the lack of water. In spite of the +warnings and veiled threats that had been received, the black pipe +still spouted into the reservoir. + +And then, like lightning out of a clear sky, came a bolt that gave the +boy ranchers a shock. + +Old Billee riding in from off the distant range one day, called to Bud +who was opening some of the reservoir gates to let water run to a +distant trough for the cattle. + +"Bad business, Bud!" exclaimed the veteran. + +"What's that?" asked the lad, with an instinctive glance at the black +pipe, whence the water spouted. His first thought was of that. + +"There's five of your steers dead, over near the last water trough!" +was the answer. + +"Steers dead!" gasped Bud. "Rustlers?" he asked, quickly. + +"Don't 'pear to be," Billee answered. "There isn't a mark on 'em. +Maybe it's glanders. Better get Doc. Tunison right over." + +Which Bud did, by telephone. + +The veterinarian, who looked after the health of cattle in that +vicinity, appeared in due season. Bud, with his cousins and Old Billee +went out to where the dead cattle lay, now stiff and stark. Some +buzzards flopped heavily off as the party approached. + +"Hum!" mused Dr. Tunison as he began his examination. It did not take +him long to complete it. "I thought so," he remarked, as he looked at +Bud. + +"What is it?" + +"Germs!" was the answer. "The epidemic's struck you, Bud!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +ROPED! + +Like a blow struck came that announcement to Bud Merkel. And to his +chums and partners in their first small venture as boy ranchers on +their own responsibility, the announcement of the veterinarian was +staggering. + +"Germs!" exclaimed Nort. + +"Epidemic!" voiced Dick. + +"Has it really struck here--the same disease that was among dad's +cattle?" asked Bud, as though hoping there might be some mistake. + +"It's here all right," went on Dr. Tunison, rising from his stooping +position beside a dead steer. He looked about for a puddle of water in +which to wash his hands, and, having completed the operation, using a +disinfectant from a bottle he produced, he added: "Better fence off +this puddle, Bud. If any of your other cattle happen to drink here +they'll get the disease, too, and bump off." + +That was his way of saying that the steers would die. + +"I'll do that!" declared Bud. "We can cut the water off from this part +of the range. But what causes the epidemic, Doc? Dad was careful not +to send me any of his infected cattle from Square M, and he said you'd +examined all that came, and they didn't have any of the trouble." + +"They didn't," declared the veterinarian. "I examined them all, and +nothing was wrong with them. But this epidemic is a germ disease, Bud, +and we don't exactly know how the germs are carried. It may be +something the cattle eat; the bunch grass or other fodder, in the +water; or it may come out of the air. All we know is that certain +germs, in some, as yet unknown, way, enter into the system of the +steer. They get into the blood through the mouth or nostril, or +perhaps from a scratch or cut. And once the germs are there, so rapid +is the action that the animals die over night--as yours have done, and +as your father's did." + +"Has dad lost any more?" asked Bud. + +"Not that I've heard of. In fact I thought by his action, in sending +the healthy animals of his Square M herd here, and to his other +ranches, that he'd gotten the best of it. But now the epidemic breaks +out here. I can't understand it!" + +The veterinarian stood looking down at the dead animal, while the +buzzards patiently waited nearby for the feast they knew belonged to +them. Evidently they were not fearful of germs. + +"What's that funny smell?" suddenly asked Nort. + +"That? Oh, it's the smell characteristic of the disease," replied Dr. +Tunison. "Not very pleasant. I got some of the pus on my +hands--that's why I washed and disinfected them. Well, Bud, I'm afraid +you're in for it!" + +"You mean the epidemic may run through all my stock?" asked the boy +rancher, anxiously. + +"It may, and that's the reason I'm putting you on your guard. But +let's hope for the best. We'll act promptly. Fence this place off, or +don't let any more water here, where other cattle can drink from the +pool, that must, of necessity, be contaminated, now that I washed my +hands in it, if for no other reason. Also separate the other cattle +into as many herds as you can handle. In this way, if the epidemic +gets among one bunch, you don't stand to lose so many. This is about +all you can do." + +"No preventative measures?" asked Bud. + +"No. If the cattle remain healthy they may resist the germs. Nature +sometimes provides her own remedies. She'll have to, in a case like +this, where so little is known about this malady that no cure is yet +available to science." + +"That sure is a funny smell--I don't like it!" said Nort again. + +"No, it isn't very pleasant," agreed the veterinarian. + +And then Bud, who had been in a serious, brown study seemed, for the +first time, to become aware of the evil odor. + +"That smell! That smell!" he cried. "I've smelled it before!" + +"Not unless you came in contact with the germs," spoke Dr. Tunison. +"Where did you smell it, Bud?" + +But, as suddenly as he had spoken, Bud Merkel became silent. He seemed +to be thinking deeply, and as he turned aside he said: + +"Oh, maybe it was when Old Billee rode in to tell me he had seen these +dead steers." + +"Possibly," admitted the veterinarian. "The smell is very +characteristic, as I said. But you'd better arrange to bury these +animals, Bud." + +"There isn't any danger--I mean to humans; is there?" Bud asked. "If +there is we'll let 'em stay here. The buzzards will make short work of +'em." + +"No, there's no danger to man, even in directly handling the germs. +That has been proved," said Dr. Tunison. "But if you let the cattle +lie here, and the buzzards eat 'em, in some manner the disease may be +carried to your other cattle. Best bury 'em, and fence off this +water-hole." + +Which was done. So the evil-looking buzzards were deprived of a feast, +and flapped mournfully away. + +There were anxious days that followed the appearance of the epidemic +among the cattle of the boy ranchers. I speak of the cattle as their +own, and they were, in a sense. For though, of course, Mr. Merkel +really owned Flume Valley, and put up the cash to start the boys in +business, he had determined that they should run the place as though it +was their own. They must stand or fall by what happened. It was the +only real way to start them in the way of becoming cattlemen, he +decided. + +So, though the boys were young, possibly the youngest ranchers in that +part of the west, they were in earnest and accepted all the +responsibilities that went with the venture. + +Bud was very thoughtful those anxious days. There was hard work for +all, since dividing the doubled herds into small units meant that each +cowboy, including Bud, Nort and Dick, had to look after a certain +number day and night. But no one shirked, even Buck Tooth working +unusually hard in addition to doing the cooking. Though Indian braves +are constitutionally opposed to labor, Buck Tooth made an ideal +herdsman. + +Not as much time was spent in camp as had formerly been the case, as +the boy ranchers and their older helpers were more often out riding +herd. But occasionally many of them gathered at the tents to compare +notes and "feed up," as Snake put it. His wound, received in the fight +with the rustlers, had healed. + +"Some day we'll have regular ranch houses here instead of just a camp," +Bud said, as he was riding back one day to look after the herd he had +assigned to himself. + +"Oh, this isn't so bad," spoke Nort. + +"Real jolly, I call it!" added Dick. + +"If only the water supply keeps up, and no more epidemic comes, we'll +be all right," Bud announced. "At the same time I can't be sure of +either." + +This was true. Though the water flowed merrily on since the time the +lads had penetrated the length of the tunnel, there was always an +uneasy feeling, on the part of the boy ranchers and their friends, that +it might stop at any time. + +"And when it dries up again," Bud declared, "I'm not going to be +satisfied until I find out what makes it quit flowing!" + +"That's the idea!" added Nort. "We'll solve the mystery!" + +As the days passed, and no more cattle were found ill or dead from the +epidemic, the hopes of the boy ranchers began to rise. Had they caught +the malady in time? Could it be stamped out by the burial of the five +steers? Time alone--and a longer time than had so far elapsed--could +tell. + +Bud, Nort and Dick each had charge of a herd, the three bunches of +cattle being pastured on adjoining areas of rich grass. + +But the distances separating them were not so great but that Bud and +his cousins could exchange visits. And it was on one of these +occasions that there occurred something which cleared up, in part at +least, the mystery hanging over Flume Valley. + +The boy ranchers were about to part for the evening, having spent the +afternoon together over "grub," cooking at an open fire; and Nort and +Dick were preparing to ride back to their herds, Bud being on the +ground, so to speak, where he would "bunk" for the night. + +As they rode down into a little swale amid the gathering shadows of the +night, a bunch of cattle moved uneasily along ahead of them, and as the +steers parted there was disclosed in their midst the forms of a man and +a horse. + +"Who's that?" suddenly asked Dick. + +"It isn't one of our boys," declared Nort. + +Bud suddenly sat upright in his saddle. He breathed deeply, and then +quickly spurred forward. His cousins saw him swinging his lariat +around his head. + +In an instant it went swishing through the air, and, a moment later, as +the coils settled about the figure of a man who started to leap for his +pony, Bud let out a yell, shouting: + +"Roped! Roped, by Zip Foster!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +AN EXPEDITION IN THE DARK. + +There was a confusion of rope and man. Sock, Bud's pony, braced his +feet, including the white one that gave him his name, and the lariat +tightened. There was a scurrying among the cattle, and the lone pony, +without a rider, galloped off. + +Nort and Dick, taken by surprise, had reined their steeds to a stop +when they saw Bud lassoing the unknown man, but now they spurred up to +their cousin. + +"What is it?" demanded Nort. + +"Who is he?" Dick wanted to know. + +At that instant a shot cracked, and the fast-gathering darkness was cut +by a sliver of flame. + +"Trying that, are you!" angrily shouted Bud, and he backed his pony +quickly, pulling the roped man along the ground, until the prostrate +figure let out a yell. + +"My hands are up!" came desperately out of the darkness. + +"They'd better be!" retorted Bud. "Can you get off and tie him, Nort?" +the boy rancher called to his cousin. "Get out your gun, Dick, and +cover him! He's going to be a bad actor, I'm saying!" + +"I'm through!" came the sullen response from the man on the ground. +"My gun went off by accident." + +"Such _accidents_ aren't healthy around here," grimly spoke Bud. "Get +at him, fellows!" + +"Who is he?" asked Nort, as he slipped from his pony, throwing the +reins forward and on the ground as notice that the animal was to stand. + +"And what's that funny smell?" asked Dick. "It's like--like the time +we found the five dead steers!" + +"Yes, and there'll be more dead steers as the result of this!" said +Bud, and there was a choking in his voice. + +A moment later Dick and Nort were standing over the prostrate figure of +Pocut Pete. His arms were bound firmly to his sides by the tight coil +of the lariat, held taut by Bud, and the other boys could see that the +cowboy's gun had slipped from its holster and lay some distance away +from him. Nort picked up the gun, and then, with quick motions, he and +Dick bound some coils of Bud's rope around the rascal's feet. + +All the fight seemed taken out of him. Without his gun, down on the +ground and his pony out of reach--he lacked all the prime requisites of +a cowboy. There was no escape, covered as he was by Bud, who had drawn +his own .45, and Pocut Pete "jest natcherly caved in," as Old Billee +described it later. + +"Caught you at it, just as I thought I would!" said Bud, when Pete was +bound and hoisted up on his horse by the boys. + +"Go on! Get it over with," was the grim answer. "I know when the game +is played out, and it was a dirty game from the start. I'd never have +opened it only I was desperate for money, and he offered me a lot." + +"I know who you mean," said Bud. "It sure was a dirty game; and the +worst of it is that it isn't over yet. That epidemic may spread all +through our stock!" + +Pocut Pete returned no answer as the boys started with him in the +direction of the camp. + +"What was he doing--trying to cut more warts off your cattle?" asked +Dick. + +"Warts!" cried Bud indignantly. "He was infecting them with the germs +of that disease! Don't you smell the rotten stuff?" + +"Oh!" exclaimed Nort. "So _that's_ the game?" + +"Yes," spoke Bud bitterly. "I wish I'd acted sooner, when I began to +suspect him! But I didn't think any one would play a trick like +this--especially on some one who never had harmed him." + +"Has he been infecting your cattle?" asked Nort. + +"Sure!" answered Bud. "I've got the goods on him! He had some thin +glass bottles, with some sort of germ-dope in them. He cut, or +scratched, the cattle and poured this stuff in the sore. That's how my +steers got it, and not from being infected by those dad sent over. Oh, +it sure is a rotten game, just when we were starting, too!" + +"He ought to be shot!" indignantly voiced Nort. + +"Or strung up!" added Dick. + +"I don't care what they do to him!" said Bud. "I'm going to turn him +over to Old Billee and the boys!" + +"Don't do that!" begged the bound figure of Pocut Pete. "They--they +may lynch me. Take me right to the sheriff!" + +"Too far," said Bud shortly. "I don't care what the boys do to you! +I'm through!" + +The prisoner vainly struggled with his bonds, but they held firm. + +It need not be written that there was a surprised bunch of cow punchers +who gathered in the camp of the boy ranchers a little later, when Pocut +Pete was delivered to them. Indignant voices and looks were noted on +all sides as his crime was recounted by Bud. + +In brief it was this: + +From the time of Pocut Pete's arrival Bud had taken a dislike to him, +and had suspected him, wrongly it appeared now, of being an addict to +some form of drug, slangily termed "dope." For he had found fragments +of thin-glass bottles, and had discovered in part of a broken phial, +the same evil-smelling mixture that, later, was associated with the +diseased cattle. + +Then Bud did not know enough of the danger to act promptly, and even +when Pocut Pete was discovered, "cutting a wart off a steer," as he +falsely said, Bud did not know what to make of that. An older person +might have been suspicious enough to have acted with more promptness, +but Bud, naturally, had lots to learn. + +However, as appeared later, Pocut Pete had secured from some of the +disease-killed cattle some pus, filled with millions of germs. This +unpleasant mixture he kept in tiny phials. + +How he learned that to inject some of this pus under the hide of a +steer would infect the animal, not only causing it to die of the +disease, but to transmit it to others, is not vital to the story. +Sufficient that Pocut Pete did know this. + +And he put his evil knowledge to evil use. He was caught by Bud, Nort +and Dick in the very act of infecting some of Bud's steers. For when +search was made in the morning, at the scene of the capture, broken +bits of phials were discovered, some with that vile, yellow substance +on them. And an inspection of the cattle showed several with cuts on +their flanks, into which cuts, it was assumed, the germs had been +injected, or rubbed. + +These animals were at once isolated, to determine what would happen to +them. The ground near where Pocut Pete had carried on his nefarious +operations was sprayed with disinfectants, and the cattle that had been +with those he inoculated were also herded by themselves. + +These were all the precautions that could be taken, and then Pocut Pete +was hurried off to the nearest jail, there to await trial. + +"But what set him up to such vile work?" asked Nort, when the prisoner +had been taken from camp. + +"What else but the desire of Hank Fisher to see our stock-raising +experiment fail?" countered Bud. "This is the doing of those +scoundrels at Double Z. I only wonder that Del Pinzo wasn't in on the +game." + +"He may be yet," said Dick. + +"Well, we'll be on the watch from now on--doubly on the watch," +asserted Bud. "They won't put anything like this over on us again!" + +"Not if we know it!" joined in his cousins. + +It could not be determined, for several days, what the turn would be in +the case of the cattle into which Pocut Pete had injected germs of the +disease. Dr. Tunison was sent for, but said he could do nothing more +than had been done. + +"You'll just have to wait and see how many will die," he told Bud. +"You've done all you could by isolation. And there's one thing in your +favor. No more of your cattle have been infected by those five that +first died. We caught that outbreak in time. And if it proves that +Pocut Pete is the sole source of infection on your ranch, it means that +only those he managed to cut in his last operation will die." + +But it took time to determine this, and while waiting for the outcome +something else happened which, though it seemed to involve tragedy at +the time, really resulted in clearing up the mystery and ending the +water fight at Diamond X. + +One morning, about a week after the roping of Pocut Pete, when the boy +ranchers and their friends were assembled in camp, preparatory to +starting out on their rounds of riding herd, Buck Tooth, who had gone +to the reservoir to fish, came running down to the tents much excited. + +"He must have caught a big one!" commented Old Billee. + +But it was not fish that had aroused the old Indian. + +"Water stop! Water him stop all time!" he yelled. + +"What's that?" shouted Bud. "Isn't the pipe running?" + +"No run!" answered Buck Tooth briefly. "All gone!" + +"More trouble!" commented Bud. And then, with a grim tightening of his +lips, he added: "This time we'll get to the bottom of the mystery!" + +There was no doubt about the fact that the water had stopped running. +As they all raced up the sloping side of the reservoir they saw only a +few drops trickling from the pipe. + +"The third time--I'm going to make it the last if it's possible," +declared Bud. + +"What yo' aimin' t' do?" asked Old Billee. + +"Go through the tunnel from end to end, and both sides, and see where +the water vanished to," was the answer. "We'll get up a regular +expedition this time, and maybe take a boat. We'll find out what it +all means." + +"I believe you're right," asserted Snake Purdee. "There's no use +trying to work Flume Valley if the water supply is goin' to be cut off +without notice. I'm with you, Bud!" + +"So 'm I!" shouted Yellin' Kid. "Whoop-ee! I'm a lone wolf an' this +is my turn for makin' a noise! Whoopee!" + +"Let's find out, first, if the water is coming into the pipe from the +river," suggested Nort. + +"You call up," begged Bud. "I'm going to get ready for this +expedition. We'll have to start in the dark," he went on, referring to +the black tunnel that stretched under Snake Mountain. "But we may come +out into the light. Anyhow, we're going in!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +INTO THE DEPTHS + +Preparations for exploring the mysterious tunnel on this occasion were +much more complete and elaborate than when Bud, Dick and Nort walked +through it before. And they did not rush off in haste, the moment it +was discovered that the water no longer came through the reservoir end +of the pipe line that formed the beginning and end of the old +underground stream course. + +"There's water enough for nearly a week, anyhow," said Bud, in +discussing their plans. "And if we can't discover the cause of the +stoppage inside of that time, and get it turned on again, we may as +well know that and give up Flume Valley as a bad job." + +"That's right," chimed in Nort. + +"The stoppage is inside the tunnel, that's sure," voiced Dick. + +"Yes," answered his cousin. "The water is running in all right from +the river." + +This fact had been ascertained by telephone. The water was running +freely from Pocut River above the dam, and into the pipe that entered +the side of the mountain. + +Bud's father had been told of the situation, which followed so closely +on the heels of the discovery of the evil acts of Pocut Pete. + +"Doesn't this sort of set you fellows back so you want to give up +ranching?" Mr. Merkel asked his son and nephews. + +"Not a bit!" promptly answered Bud. + +"We're going to stick!" added Nort. + +"And find out what makes this water stop," contributed Dick. "We'll +show up Hank Fisher, Del Pinzo and that other bunch of crooks, too!" + +"I don't see how Hank could have had anything to do with this water +stoppage," said Mr. Merkel. "Of course it may develop that he hired +Pocut Pete to infect our cattle, but even that is doubtful. Those +fellows are pretty cute. Anyhow, Pocut Pete is where he can't do any +harm for some time. He won't be tried until fall. + +"But it's my idea, boys, that this water stoppage is caused by some +natural means. We are using an old underground river bed, you realize, +and there may be what I'd call a 'hole' in it somewhere. The water +that ought to come to you may drop down that hole." + +"But why doesn't it do it all the while?" asked Dick. + +"That's one of the mysteries," said his uncle, "one that you'll have to +solve." + +"We went over it all before," spoke Bud, "and we couldn't see even a +branch passage." + +"Well, some of the men are going with you this time," his father said. +"They're more used to looking for signs than you fellows are, though I +must say you've done fine, so far!" + +As Mr. Merkel had stated, it was decided to send several of the cowboys +with Bud and his cousins on this expedition into the dark tunnel. Old +Billee, Yellin' Kid and Snake Purdee would be of the party, which would +thus consist of six. + +In this way, there being safety in numbers, it was hoped that accidents +might be avoided, or, if they happened, there would be at hand help for +the unfortunates. + +"If we could only take a boat," said Dick, when the preparations were +almost completed, "it would be great!" + +"What could we do with a boat in that stream, which is hardly three +feet wide in places?" asked his brother. A boat had been mentioned in +the first excitement, however, but the idea was abandoned as +impracticable. + +"Well, if the flood came, as suddenly as it did when we had to take +refuge on the ledge, we could float out," answered Dick. + +"A boat to hold six men would be too big to carry," spoke Bud. "Even a +folding canvas one wouldn't answer. But I know what we can do." + +"What?" asked Nort. + +"We can each take an inner automobile tire. Blown up, they are as good +as life preservers, and with them fastened to us we can float and be +carried along by the current, if a flood happens again." + +It was decided that this was a wise precaution to take, and from +Diamond X some inner tubes were sent over--old ones that had outlived +their usefulness on the car, but which still held air, and would, as +Bud said, make excellent life preservers. + +In order to make a thorough examination it was decided to take food and +water enough to last the expedition at least two days. It was easy to +traverse the tunnel in one day, as the boys had proved. But Old Billee +counseled a slower trip. + +"I wish I could go with you," said Mr. Merkel to the boys, when the +time came for the start, "but I have a shipment of steers to get off, +and I want to keep watch of this epidemic. It begins to look as if we +had gotten the best of it, but I'm taking no chances." + +"Oh, we'll make out all right, Dad," spoke Bud. "Though we would like +to have you with us. And when we come back we'll either settle, for +good and all, this fight for water, or we'll abandon Flume Valley!" + +"I'd hate to see you give it up," said the ranchman. "It is an ideal +place to raise cattle, with the water here. But without it, of course, +there's no use thinking of it. Well, good luck to you," he called, as +he turned to go back to Diamond X proper. + +As he had said, there had been no further outbreak of the epidemic +among the cattle of the boy ranchers. The steers which Pocut Pete had +cut, injecting into them the pus and germs, died, however. And there +were more of these than Bud and his cousins had counted on. + +But if they lost no more than this half-score, and could get the water +back, all might yet be well. + +The water in the reservoir had gone down several feet when the +expedition started into the tunnel. Much of the fluid had to be drawn +off to water the thirsty cattle, for it was the height of summer now, +and the heat, in the middle of the day, was terrific. + +But there was still enough of the supply to last for several days. +Then, if Bud and his companions could not discover the secret of the +stoppage, and get the water to running again. Flume Valley would have +to be abandoned. + +"Well, I can't see that we can do any more," spoke Bud. + +"No; you've got things as well fixed as possible," agreed Old Billee. + +"Can't tell when you'll see us again," said Dick to the remaining +cowboys gathered about the reservoir end of the tunnel to see the +expedition start in. + +"Well, good luck, anyhow!" came the answer. + +A number of punchers had been sent over to Flume Valley from Diamond X +and Triangle B to replace Yellin' Kid, Billee and Snake Purdee who were +to accompany the boy ranchers. + +Suddenly Yellin' Kid broke into song: + + "Leave me alone with a rope an' a saddle, + Fold my spurs under my haid! + Give me a can of them sweet, yaller peaches, + 'Cause why? My true-love is daid!" + + +"Oh, give us something cheerful!" laughed Bud, as the cowboy seemed +about to start on another verse. + +"That's cheerful enough for this occasion," retorted Yellin' Kid. +"Wait 'till you hear me howl in that tunnel." + +"Don't!" begged Dick with a laugh. "It echoes so you'll bring the roof +down!" + +There was a hurried inspection of their weapons and supplies, for each +was equally needed. The inner tubes of several auto tires had been +provided and tested, and there was a small air pump with which to +inflate them. + +"All ready?" asked Bud, at length. + +"All ready," answered Old Billee. "But I wish I had a hoss!" + +"Couldn't use one," retorted Snake Purdee. "It'll work off some of the +fat, if you walk." + +"Hu! Fat!" snorted Old Billee. "I ain't fat!" + +"Forward!" suddenly called Bud. + +Then with waves of their hands, and with the calling of many "good-bye" +farewells, the expedition disappeared into the black depths of the +tunnel. + +What would they find? What would be the outcome? Would they ever +reappear again? + +These were questions which more than one asked himself, but no one +spoke them aloud. + +"Now," remarked Bud, when they were well within the long stretch of +blackness, and lanterns had been lighted, "we walked, the other time, +on the left-hand side of the water course. What say we try the right +one this time?" + +"Good enough!" decided Old Billee. "We'll be right for once!" he joked. + +"But it really is a good idea," declared Snake Purdee. "There might +have been something--some hidden passage on the side you didn't travel, +boys. You could easily have missed it in the darkness." + +So this was decided on. As a matter of fact in many places it was +possible for the party to divide and some walk along either side of the +old stream bed. But this would not be feasible should the water +suddenly appear again. + +And so the expedition moved slowly along. I say slowly, for that speed +marked their course. They carried a number of lanterns and these were +flashed over walls and roof as well as on the bottom, to discover, if +possible, a branch tunnel, or hole, where the water might travel to, +and thus be shunted off from the reservoir end. But, for several hours +nothing occurred, and nothing was discovered. Lunch was eaten in the +blackness, relieved as it was only by the lanterns, and then the +expedition started off again. + +"Here's the place where we were when the water came spouting before," +said Bud, as they came opposite the ledge on which he and his cousins +had taken refuge. "I think we ought to spend some time here and----" + +"Hark," suddenly interrupted Nort. "Hear that noise!" + +They all heard it--a rushing, roaring sound, like the blowing of a +mighty wind. + +"The water--the water!" cried Bud. "Look out!" + +They could hear the noise more plainly, now, and as Snake and Billee +raised their lanterns, the glows flashed on a white, frothy mass +approaching through the blackness of the tunnel. + +"It's the same as before!" cried Nort. "Get to the ledge! The ledge!" + +He made a leap, running ahead to where he saw a more narrow place that +would enable him to leap across from the right to the left side of the +channel. + +And then, while the others hung back for a moment, and Nort thus dashed +ahead alone, his companions saw him quickly disappear. The wall of +water suddenly rushed forward, but it never came quite to the place +where the party of five now stood in nameless terror--five, for Nort +had disappeared into the depths of the stream that had so mysteriously +appeared again out of the blackness. + +From whence it came, and whither it was rushing, not to foam entirely +over that startled group, none in it could say. But it had engulfed +Nort--that they had seen. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE FIGURE ON THE ROCK + +Horror and surprise held the five speechless for a moment. Then, as +they heard the noise of the rushing water, and saw, by the light of +their lanterns, that it came almost to them, but suddenly turned to the +right, they came to their senses. + +"Nort! Nort!" yelled Dick, his voice being flung back at him in echoes +from the rocky, vaulted roof of the tunnel. + +"What in th' world happened?" asked Old Billee in trembling accents. + +"Nort fell into the stream, and was carried away," answered Bud, his +voice choking. + +"But why doesn't the water reach us?" asked Snake. + +"That's what we'll have to find out," asserted Bud, bravely. "Come on!" + +"But be careful," cautioned Billee. "Something may happen t' us, an' +then we can't help Nort! Go easy!" + +He spoke only in time, for the next moment, with an exclamation of +horror, Bud and Dick, who had forged ahead, recoiled back. + +"Look out!" shouted Bud, and he made such a lurch backward to recover +his balance that the lantern was flung from his hand. It dropped, as +they all could see, into the midst of black, swirling waters, white +foam-capped on top. + +And it was into this stream that Nort had fallen and been carried away, +and into this stream that Bud and Dick had been nearly precipitated as +they dashed forward. + +Bud's lantern was extinguished with a hiss as the waters penetrated it +and covered the wick. It sank from sight, but not before it had, in a +flash, illuminated the surface of the water. + +"It's a good thing we took the right-hand side," said Billee, as he and +the others saw what it was that had caused the water to rush almost to +their feet and then branch off. "I mean it's a good thing, for it may +help us to solve the mystery. But as for poor Nort----" + +He did not finish, but Dick sent up a despairing cry: + +"Nort! Oh, Nort! Where are you?" + +And only the vaulty echoes answered. + +"What are we going to do?" asked Snake, who seemed unable to suggest +anything. + +"Everybody come here with their lanterns," directed Bud. "And light +that spare one, Billee." + +Thus was replaced the one he had dropped in the effort to save himself +from falling into the same torrent that had engulfed his cousin. + +And in the light of the lanterns, the one Nort had carried being +forever lost, it seemed they all could see the explanation for the +apparently mysterious action of the underground stream; or, rather, it +was an explanation of part of the mystery; for this was only the +beginning. + +Beyond where they stood, in the direction of Pocut River, there flowed +through the ancient channel a body of water larger than that which +usually filled the underground course. This was accounted for, likely, +by the fact that it had been stopped, or dammed, by some natural or +artificial means, and had suddenly been released. Thus the channel was +more fully filled than usual. + +But, as I have said, the water came up to the point where the members +of the expedition then stood. From there it made a sudden turn to +their right, as they stood facing the river end of the tunnel. And it +was this sudden turn--this shift in the course of the underground +stream--which prevented it from engulfing our friends. + +But it had engulfed Nort. + +"I see what happened--or, at least, part of it," spoke Bud while the +others listened. "The waters were suddenly turned on again, or turned +themselves on, and shot this way. Nort heard them and ran down here to +jump across the stream-bed, which was then dry. But he must have +fallen over the edge of this traverse ledge, or channel, as I nearly +did, and down he went!" + +They looked, and agreed that this was very likely how it had taken +place. + +"But can't we save him?" pleaded Dick. "I'm a good swimmer. Let me +try to get him! Maybe he's lying down there--on the bottom!" + +He made as if to take off his coat, but Old Billee grabbed him by the +arm. + +"You'd only go t' your death, boy!" said the old ranchman hoarsely. +"It's bad enough--as it is!" + +"But what happened to Nort?" asked Dick, and there was a sob in his +voice. + +"He must have been carried away--down that stream--wherever it goes," +asserted Snake Purdee. + +"That's just the point, where does it go?" Dick asked. + +"Wait a minute," counseled Bud. "Let's see if we can reason this out." +He paused to give it thought. "The way this stream is running now," he +resumed, "wouldn't put any water into our reservoir, would it?" + +"No," answered Yellin' Kid, and for once his voice was softened. "Th' +water is all being shunted down this passage--where Nort fell." + +"But," resumed Bud, "this passage has always been here. We didn't see +it before, as we walked on the other side of the main channel. Then if +this side channel has always been here, and we managed to get water +through our pipe when it was here, it stands to reason that it must +fill in time, enabling the water to run along here," and he indicated +the regular channel that extended back of them out toward Flume Valley. + +"That's so!" cried Old Billee. "There's an end, or a bottom, t' this +channel somewhere, and poor Nort can't be carried all the way through +th' earth." + +"But--but," faltered Dick. "It may be too late to save him when this +side passage fills up." + +"What I was going to propose," went on Bud, "is that we see if we can't +follow along this newly-discovered side passage, as we have been +following the main bed of the underground river." + +He paused to let his companions visualize this suggestion. + +"Do you think that would be safe?" asked Old Billee. "I mean," he +added quickly, "will that be th' safest way t' try an' save Nort? I +won't back down on anything--I guess you know that--but I was just +wondering if there was some other way." + +"There might be," said Bud. "We could go along on the left side of the +stream, and see if there is a crossing place farther on. We saw some +narrow places when we were here before, but it's a question how much +water they'd have in them now." + +"Oh, but can't we do something?" cried Dick, now almost sobbing, though +he was making a brave effort to conquer himself. "Oh, Nort! Nort! +Where are you?" he cried frenziedly. + +But again only the echoes answered. + +"Come on!" cried Old Billee suddenly. "We'll try this way. We've got +t' do something!" + +"Leave our packs here," suggested Yellin' Kid, and again his voice was +low, as if in deference to Dick's feelings. "We can put 'em up on that +ledge," he added, indicating a small one on their side of the +underground stream. "The water doesn't appear to have been up there in +years. If we leave our things here we'll be better able to help +Nort--if we find him," he added in a voice so low that only Old Billee +heard. + +"Take our lanterns," suggested Snake Purdee. + +"And ropes," went on Bud. "We may need 'em!" + +Accordingly the food and other supplies, which the searchers after the +secret of the underground water course had brought with them, were put +up on the ledge, and then they started down the black passage through +which the stream appeared to have branched, carrying Nort with it. +There was room but for one to walk at a time on this "bank," as it +might be called, of the hidden stream, and they had to proceed in +single file. + +"I'd like to see a map of this place, so we'd know where we were +going," spoke Old Billee, as he swung his lantern from side to side in +an endeavor to disclose the hidden secrets of the place. + +"I have an idea that the underground stream is shaped like the letter +T," spoke Bud. "The top, or cross stem, is the part that extends from +the river to our reservoir. We are now walking along the upright +piece." + +"But if the main part of the T is also a stream, and the water is +running down that, as it is, instead of along the main stem, it becomes +for the time being a letter L, doesn't it?" asked Snake. + +"Yes," assented Bud. "And as long as the water turns at right angles, +as it does at the place where Nort fell in, and as long as the water +runs along this same side passage, we don't get any at Flume Valley. +The letter T is in our favor, and L is against us." + +"But we didn't see anything like this when we were here before," +remarked Dick. + +"Because we weren't on this side," Bud answered. "And I have an idea +that, in time, this second passage finally fills with water completely, +and when it does the stream again flows along the cross stem of the T +and we get it." + +"Mebby you're right," Old Billee agreed. "But this isn't finding Nort." + +"Will we--will we ever find him?" faltered Dick. + +"Sure!" declared Bud, as heartily as he could. + +But as they progressed in the darkness, stopping now and then to look +about by means of the light, calling again and again, and as no reply +came, even the heart of the stoutest of them sank in despair. + +All they could see was black, rushing water, flowing in a channel it +appeared to have cut, after countless years, in the solid rock. There +was a narrow footpath, so to speak, on either side of this stream, and +it was along this the searchers were walking. + +Suddenly Bud, who was in the lead, uttered a strange cry. + +"What's the matter?" exclaimed Dick. "Do you see him?" + +"No! But look!" went on Bud. "We have come out into a regular +underground cave! It's as big as a house!" + +He flashed his lantern around in a circle, and as the others came up +and stood beside him, at a spot where the passageway beside the stream +widened, they saw that they had emerged into a great vault. + +And as they stood there, awed and marveling, there came to them, above +the rustle and whispering of the rushing waters, the sound of a human +voice--it was as though someone, sorely hurt, had moaned. + +"Listen!" cried Dick. + +"Hold up your lanterns!" commanded Bud sharply. + +As they raised them, throwing the combined light farther out across the +stream that had widened into a pool in the vault, Dick uttered a cry. + +"I see him! I see Nort!" yelled Dick. "There, on the rock!" + +And he pointed to the huddled figure of some one on a great rock in the +middle of the pool of black water, which seemed, a short distance from +the inflowing stream, to be as quiet as a lake. And, as they watched +in the gleam of the lights, the figure on the rock moved slightly. + +"Nort! Nort!" cried Dick, and his voice was flung back in deafening +echoes from the vaulted roof. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE WATER GATE + +While they eagerly watched, the solitary figure on the big rock in the +midst of that sinister pool again moved slightly, and as it became +partly erect it was seen to be Nort Shannon. + +"We've found him! We've found him!" joyfully cried Dick. + +"An' alive, too, if I'm any judge," added Billee. + +Dick was stripping off his coat, when Bud placed a hand on his shoulder. + +"Wait a minute," advised the western lad. + +"But I'm going to get him!" objected the brother. "I'm going to save +Nort!" + +"Maybe it isn't safe, and we may be able to save him in another way," +suggested Bud. "I say, Nort," he called. "Are you hurt?" + +How eagerly they all waited for the answer, after the echo of Bud's +voice had ceased reverberating in the big cave! + +"Yes--I--I'm all right," came the faint answer across the silent pool. +"I don't know exactly how I got here. Something hit me on the +head--after I fell--fell in. I reckon I must have floated near this +rock and--and just naturally grabbed hold and--pulled myself--up!" + +"That's enough! Take it easy now!" called Bud. "We're coming over to +get you!" + +"Sure you're not hurt?" asked Dick, his voice trembling. + +"Nothing more than a bump on the head," answered Nort, his own tones +stronger now. "Not half as bad as I've gotten at football," and he +laughed a little--the most joyful sound any of them had heard since the +sweeping away of the boy rancher. + +"Well, now we've found him, the next thing is to get him over here," +spoke Bud. "Two of us had better swim out there. This water looks to +be all right," and he stooped down and tested it with his hand. "As +warm as the river," he added. + +"I'm going to swim out!" declared Dick, and this time, as he began to +"peel," no one stopped him. + +"I'll go with you," said Bud. "We'll tie the ropes around our waists +and they can hold them here on shore. It will be better than taking a +risk, using the old tires," he added, "and, while there isn't any +current in the pool now, no telling what may happen." + +"Sure you want the ropes," said Old Billee. "But you'd better take a +tire for Nort," and they did. + +"Hold hard, Nort!" called Dick, as he and Bud took off their clothes in +preparation for the swim. "We're coming!" + +"I'll hold hard all right," came the answer back across the pool. "And +there's something hard here to hold on to, all right." + +They did not then realize his meaning, but they understood, later, when +they made a most amazing discovery. + +In a few minutes Dick and Bud were in the water, lariats held by those +on "shore" tied around their waists; and the two boy ranchers were +swimming toward the big rock in the middle of the pool. Lanterns at +the edge of this strange underground body of water gave sufficient +light to enable the swimmers, and the others, to see Nort now standing +on the great boulder which emerged from the midst of the black water. + +It was the plan of Bud and Dick to help Nort to swim back to where the +others stood, they supporting him on either side. For though Nort was +a better swimmer than his brother, in his weakened condition, hit on +the head as he had said, he might suddenly collapse. + +So also might Bud and Dick, or there might suddenly appear a swift +current in the now quiet pool--that is, quiet beyond where the stream +flowed in--and in that latter event the lariats would serve to pull +them all to safety. + +"Gee! I thought you were a goner!" gasped Dick, as he climbed out and +clasped his brother by the hand. + +"I would have been, only that I floated near this rock, and managed, +half unconscious as I was, to grab hold of a projection and pull myself +up," Nort answered. "That water came up so fast it scared me, and I +slipped right into it." + +"We saw you," said Bud, sitting down on the rock to get his wind, so he +might be at his best in helping Nort on the return journey. + +"It was--awful!" spoke Dick simply, and then he made no further +reference to his mental agony. + +"Well, are you ready to go back?" asked Bud, after a pause, in which +interim they had called to those across the pool that the lost lad was +all right. + +"I'm ready, yes," was Nort's answer. "But I'd sort of like to see what +this hard lever-like object is." + +"Oh, yes," spoke Dick. "You said you had something hard to hold to. +Let's have a look--if we only had a light," he added, for it was quite +dark on the great rock in the midst of the black pool. The light of +the lanterns did not brightly penetrate that far. + +"I have some matches, in a waterproof case, if I didn't lose it out of +my pocket," said Nort, feeling in his soaking trousers. "Here they +are," he went on a moment later. And as his hands were drier than +those of Bud or Dick, Nort opened the box and managed, after one or two +failures, to strike a light. + +As the little taper flared up the three boys on the rock saw, standing +upright about in the centre of the large boulder a great handle, or +lever, of copper. The metal gleamed dully red in the flickering light. + +"What is it?" asked Bud, as Nort struck another light. + +"I don't know," was the answer from Nort. "I discovered it when I was +crawling about and feeling around. I thought, if worst came to worst, +I could hold to this if the waters rose." + +"They seem to be as high as they're going to get," said Bud. "But this +sure is queer! Hold your match closer, Nort." + +Another of the tapers was lighted, and across the pool came the voice +of Snake Purdee, asking what was going on. + +"There's some sort of a handle, or lever, here," answered Bud, as he +examined it more closely. "It moves, too," he added as he laid his +hands on it and pulled it toward him. + +"Look out!" cautioned Dick, but it was too late. + +Bud had pulled the copper lever toward him, and, in spite of its size +and weight, it moved easily in what appeared to be a slot in the rock. +It clicked slightly, as though connected with hidden mechanism. + +Then, with a suddenness that was startling, a low but ever-increasing +roar seemed to fill the cavern in which was the black pool. The roar +grew louder and louder, and the very rock beneath their feet seemed to +tremble. + +"What have you done?" gasped Dick. + +"Search me!" answered Bud in such queer tones that Nort laughed. + +And then a strange thing happened. As Nort struck another match he and +the boys on the rock could see the water all about them beginning to +recede. Slowly it flowed at first and then, with a rush, it began +running out of the place as fast as it had run in. + +"What's up over there?" called the voice of Old Billee from "shore," so +to speak. "What you fellers doin' with th' water?" + +"I just pulled that lever," sang out Bud. + +"Then you've done the trick!" said the old cowboy. "You must have +opened some gate, and the water's running away. Better swim over here +while you have the chance. When the water comes back that rock may be +covered!" + +But another strange part of their mysterious adventures was that they +did not have to swim back. For the water receded so rapidly that, in a +little while, it was possible to wade from the rock to the stone edge +of the pool where the other members of the party stood. And wade back +to their friends Bud, Dick and Nort did. + +"Oh, boy! But we're glad to see you!" cried Old Billee, as he caught +Nort by the hand. + +"You let out a mouthful that time!" declared Yellin' Kid, and his voice +nearly split their ear drums, so magnified was it by the echoing, +vaulted roof of the cavern. + +"But what all happened?" asked Snake Purdee. "Is there some old +Mexican grain mill under here that has a water-wheel, sluices and +gates?" + +"I give it up," answered Bud. "All I know is that I pulled that copper +lever--and it's copper so it won't rust off, I reckon--and the water +began to rush out as fast as it must have come in here." + +"It is mighty queer," agreed Old Billee. "Let's go take a look," and +he started to walk across the intervening space between shore and the +great rock--a space in which only a few puddles of water now remained. + +"Will it be safe?" asked Bud, who had begun to dress, an example +followed by Dick. + +"Why not?" asked Old Billee. "The water can't rise any higher than it +was when you fellows were on the rock. An', according to your tell, +there's room enough for us all t' stand there." + +"Yes, it's big enough," agreed Bud. "But suppose we all get there, and +the water begins to come back?" + +"We'll turn it loose again with th' lever," answered the old cow +puncher. "But I reckon it can't fill up this pool again until that +lever is shifted hack where it was before you yanked it." + +"Maybe not," admitted Bud. "Well, let's take a chance. If worst comes +to worst we can swim back, and I'd like to solve this mystery. I feel +that we're getting at it now!" + +"That's right," said Nort, who was feeling stronger every moment. +"When I fell in, and was carried away," he said, "I had a wild notion +that this might lead to the discovery of something. I managed to keep +my head out of water as I was swept along, until I got a knock on the +noodle, and that put me partly to sleep. That may have been a good +thing, too, for they say a partly unconscious person doesn't breathe +much, and that's why I didn't swallow any water to speak of. + +"I was dazed when I must have been swept, or floated, past that rock +but I came to in time to save myself. Gosh! but I was glad to hear you +yell though, Dick!" he said. + +"Well, let's get over there an' start pryin' out this secret," +suggested Old Billee. "This is gettin' mighty interestin'!" + +It seemed reasonable to suppose that the water would rise to no greater +height than it had when the searchers had discovered Nort on the rock. +And as this boulder was well out of water, and large enough for them +all to stand on, they would run no risk, even if the flood should start +to return when they were in the middle of the pool, which, however, was +a pool no longer, but merely a wet reservoir, so to speak. + +"But I don't believe the water will flow back here until you shift that +lever again, Bud," declared the old ranchman. "And I'm going to have a +try at it!" + +"Isn't it takin' a chance?" asked Snake. + +"You got t' take chances in this world!" declared Old Billee. + +"Well, let's go!" suggested Bud. + +"I think I'll stay here," spoke Nort. "I don't feel quite up to +walking over those rocks. And you may need some one on this side who +can throw a rope," he added, as he looked at the lariats. + +"All right," assented Bud. "You stay here, Nort." + +They left him on the shore, as I call the rocky edge of the pool, with +a lantern, and, taking other lanterns with them, the little party set +out. It took them only about three minutes to walk across to the great +rock, which stood upright in the middle of the cavern floor. + +Rising up in almost the very centre was the heavy, copper lever. By +the light of the lanterns it was examined, and seen to extend down +through the rock, whither no one knew. + +"It works a water gate all right," declared Old Billee. "Let's pull it +back to where you found it, Bud, and see what happens." + +It was with some feelings of apprehension that the others watched as +Old Billee reached for the copper lever and pulled it toward him, It +operated as easily as it had for Bud. + +And almost as quickly as had taken place on the other occasion, there +was that roaring, rumbling sound, a noise as of the blowing of a great +wind, and then the waters began to rush back into the pool. + +"Here they come!" yelled Dick, as he stood beside Bud on the rock. + +Truly the waters were returning as the hidden gate was closed when +Billee pulled the lever. + +Would they go down again? + +That was what each one asked himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE CONSPIRATORS + +Rapidly rushing, foaming, bubbling and boiling, the waters rushed into +the mysterious cavern, until they again filled the pool across which +Bud and Dick had swam to the rescue of Nort on the rock. Now the +situation was reversed. It was Nort who was on the mainland, or shore, +so to speak, and the others who were on the rock. + +But it was one of their own choosing, in an endeavor to solve the +mystery, though as Bud and his companions watched the waters creeping +higher and higher up the surface of the rock on which they stood, their +hearts were not altogether easy. + +"Suppose it covers the rock?" asked Dick. + +"Then we'll have to swim back where Nort is," Bud answered. + +"Shucks! You won't have to do nothin' of the sort!" declared Old +Billee stoutly. "She won't come up any farther than it did before!" + +And he was right. When the water around the rock lapped the erosion +mark, which had been worn in the hard stone by centuries of the flow of +the fluid, the flood ceased. The roaring, bubbling and seething, like +that which takes place in a canal lock, came to an end, and the water +of the pool became quiet. + +"There! What'd I tell you?" cried Old Billee. "I closed th' water +gate, that Bud opened to let th' water out, an' she come back. Now all +we have t' do, so we can walk back, is t' yank this lever again." + +"Does it only work two ways?" asked Yellin' Kid, his voice again +softened, as the mystery of the place seemed to cast a shadow over him +and the others. + +"Seems to," Bud answered, holding his lantern down close to where the +copper handle entered the rock. + +There appeared to be a slot cut in the hard stone--a slot about three +inches wide, and a foot long, in which the copper lever could be moved +backward and forward, but not from side to side. + +"Let's try the other way, now," suggested Dick. + +Once again Old Billee pulled on the copper shaft, which, as they could +see by the light of all their lanterns combined, seemed to have been +rudely hammered out, for it bore the rough marks of a primitive forge. + +And no sooner had the lever been pulled to its limit in the slot than +there sounded again the rushing, roaring tumult of noises, and, after a +little, the water began receding once more. + +"We've discovered the secret!" cried Dick. + +"No, only part of it," said Bud. "We've got to find where the water +goes, and if pulling this lever sends it into our reservoir. That's +the main thing to discover." + +"But we're on the track of part of it," went on Dick. "I wonder who +built this secret water gate, and the lever that operates it?" + +"It may be part of the work of the ancient Mexicans, the old Indians or +the Aztecs, who inhabited this land ages ago," said Bud. "Copper will +last almost forever, you know, even in water, as it doesn't rust. And +you've read how the ancient Aztecs used to build great vaults under the +mountain, and arrange to flood them to keep their gold away from the +Spaniards." + +"Yes, I've read of that," admitted Dick. + +"Say, where can you get a book like that?" demanded Old Billee. + +"I've got one at the camp," Bud answered. "I'll let you take it. Of +course my theory may be all wrong," he went on. "But I begin to +believe we've stumbled on some ancient Aztec water system." + +"You don't mean to say those old Mexicans, for that's what the Aztecs +were, are still hanging around in this cave, turning your water on and +off, do you?" demanded Dick. + +"No, it's some one more modern who's making trouble for us," Bud +declared. "But we're on the track of a big discovery, I believe. +Look, the water is almost gone!" + +This was true. The pool was emptying itself as it had done before, +and, in a short time they could walk back to where Nort awaited them. + +"What's the next thing to do?" asked Dick. + +"Get back where we left our grub and feed our faces," suggested Snake +Purdee. + +"Yes, I think that will be best," Bud said. "Then we can talk over the +next move. I begin to feel hungry." + +"I hope we won't be disappointed," remarked Yellin' Kid and his vocal +powers seemed to be on the mend, for he called loudly. + +"Disappointed? How?" asked Old Billee. + +"I mean I hope we find our grub where we left it," Kid explained. + +"Why wouldn't it be there?" Old Billee wanted to know. "Do you think +them Hatchet-texts have sneaked in and took it?" + +"You mean Aztecs?" laughed Yellin' Kid. "No, I wasn't referrin' to +them. I mean I hope our monkeyin' with that copper handle didn't send +the flood over the place where we left our things." + +"I never thought of that," said Bud. "By Zip Foster! I hope nothing +like that _has_ happened!" + +With anxious hearts they hastened back to the place where Nort had been +swept away. They had left the strange lever set to drain the pool, and +what state of affairs they would find on returning to their point of +digression no one could say. + +"Maybe we'll find the water running on into Flume Valley," suggested +Nort, who seemed to be almost himself again, except for a feeling of +weakness. + +"I hope so," spoke Bud. + +But this was not the case. On reaching the place where the tunnel +branched, they found no water there at all. None was running in the +main channel, and none was turning off down the "stem of the T," to use +the illustration I first employed. + +"Keeps on being strange, doesn't it!" said Bud. + +They all agreed with him. + +"What's the next move?" asked Dick, as they gazed about, finding their +food and supplies safe, and no water, to mention, anywhere about. + +"Let's grub!" suggested Snake. + +"And make a fire and heat the coffee," urged Bud. "I don't believe the +smoke will do any harm, and there's plenty of dry driftwood in the +higher places, and on little ledges." + +"Some hot coffee would go down mighty well!" remarked Nort. + +"Then you're going to have it!" asserted his cousin. They had brought +some of the cold beverage along in tin flasks, and these were soon +heating over a little blaze that was kindled along the bank of the +underground stream that was again dry. + +The food and hot drink put new hearts into all of them, especially +Nort, and when appetites were appeased they gathered about the +cheerful, if small, blaze, which gave off scarcely any smoke, and held +a discussion. + +"What I think we had better do," said Bud, "is to travel on until we +come to the place--if such a place there is--where this stream again +shunts off to the side. For I'm sure there is such a place if we find +that the water is running into the tunnel from the river." + +"We can't be sure of that, though," Old Billee said. + +"No, but we can find out when we get to the other end of the tunnel," +declared Bud. "My idea is--though, of course, I might be wrong--that +there are two side passages, so to speak. Sometimes the water branches +off the main channel and fills the pool where we found Nort on the +rock. Then it may flow down another channel, farther on, but nearer to +the river end of the tunnel." + +"But if the water came along the main channel, until it got here, and +then filled the pool to the limit, as was evidently the case," +suggested Nort, "why wouldn't the water then back up and go on to our +reservoir--and it didn't do that." + +"There may be some outlet from that pool and cavern where we were," +said Bud. + +They considered this for a moment, and agreed that he might be right. + +"Then what we've got to look for," went on Bud, "is another side +passage where the water is shunted off, that is, providing it is not +cut off at the river pipe. And if there is such a passage it must be +on the right-hand side of the stream, as was the one where Nort fell +in. For we went all along the left-hand bank the other time, and +didn't discover anything." + +"And suppose we find the second branch stream now--what will we do?" +asked Snake. + +"Two of us will come back and work the lever, while the others stay at +the second stream to see what happens," was Bud's answer. "Come on; +let's go!" + +They put out the fire, packed their belongings, and, making sure that +Nort was able to travel, they set out again. Nort's garments were +soaking wet, or, rather, they had been, but there was a current of warm +air in the tunnel, and soon he began to dry out, for which he was very +thankful. + +They found the second branching stream sooner than they expected. It +was less than a quarter of a mile from the first, or the one into which +Nort had fallen, and it was almost of exactly the same character. + +"Look out! Here it is!" cried Bud who saw it first, his lantern +gleaming on the swiftly-rushing water. "Go easy!" + +And "easy" they went, reaching the edge of the ledge below which flowed +the mysterious, powerful current. + +"We can go along here, just as we did before. Here's another branch +tunnel!" announced Dick, holding up his lantern, and showing a wide, +high passage, the bottom and middle part of which was occupied by the +stream. + +"I wonder how many of them there are?" remarked Nort as he and the +others turned into the black opening, which seemed to slope as though +descending a hill. This gave greater force to this stream of water. + +"And I wonder if it also runs into a cavern, with a rock and a copper +lever in the middle!" voiced Dick. + +"Hope we find out soon," spoke Bud. "This is getting more and more +queer all the while." + +They tramped on in the blackness that was relieved only by their +swaying lanterns. They walked beside the strange, underground stream, +and they had progressed farther than along the other branching body of +water when Old Billee, who was ahead just then, suddenly halted and +uttered a warning. + +"Listen!" + +"What is it?" asked Yellin' Kid, in his usual tones, but Billee reached +back and gave him such a dig in the ribs that Kid subsided with a grunt. + +"I hear talkin'!" whispered Billee. "Voices! There's some one else in +this place than us! Listen!" + +They stopped and strained their sense of hearing. And then, above the +slithering murmur of the water, they all distinctly heard a voice say: + +"I think we've fixed 'em this time! They won't steal any more water +from Pocut River!" + +The boy ranchers looked at each other. + +"Del Pinzo!" whispered Nort. + +"As sure as Zip Foster ever ate ham and eggs!" agreed Bud. + +"Hush!" begged Old Billee. + +And as they became quiet again they heard another voice say: + +"I guess it's all up with 'em now. We might as well light out and +touch off the fuse!" + +"Whew!" softly whistled Bud. + +Together the party of searchers moved softly forward. Suddenly the +passage along the bank of the mysterious stream turned sharply, almost +at a right angle. + +And there, in what appeared to be a small cave, excavation or cavern, +high in the upper wall was disclosed a roughly circular opening, like a +window or port hole. Through this port hole a light showed, and +outlined in the light were several rough-appearing men, leaning +together over what might have been a table. + +"Del Pinzo!" murmured Dick. + +"Conspirators!" exclaimed Bud. "They're the ones that's been turning +this water on and off! We're on the track of the mystery now!" + +Whether he spoke loudly enough to be heard, or whether some other sound +made by the searchers alarmed the men in the upper niche, was not +disclosed just then. + +But the light suddenly went out, and confused sounds followed. + +And chief among these sounds was the rushing, roaring noise, the +blowing as of a mighty wind, and the water near the boy ranchers and +their companions was strangely agitated. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A POWERFUL STREAM + +"Better look out!" came the high-pitched voice of Yellin' Kid. + +"There may be a flood here!" added Old Billee. + +"Can't we get those rascals?" cried Snake Purdee. "I'd 'a' had th' +drop on 'em in another second if they hadn't doused that glim!" + +As he spoke they could all hear the rush of iron-nailed shoes when the +wearers of them scrambled over hard rocks in their effort to escape. + +Mingled with that sound was the strange one of rushing water. +Realizing that danger might come to them more through the agency of the +strangely-acting underground stream than from the actions of the +conspirators, Bud and Nort flashed their lanterns on the water-course +behind them and around the bend which they had turned to behold the +strange scene. + +"It's going down!" cried Bud, for there was no longer any advantage in +concealment or silence, as long as Del Pinzo and the others had fled. +"It's receding!" + +"Just as the other did!" added Dick. "They must have opened a gate +here and let the water out!" + +"They've done something!" cried Bud, "and we've got to find out what it +is." + +"Did you hear that about a fuse?" demanded Snake. "Maybe they're going +to blow the place up!" + +"If they do, and the tunnel caves in, good-bye to my water!" said Bud. + +"Yes, and good-night to _us_!" grimly added Old Billee. + +"Come on!" cried Yellin' Kid. "Let's see what's up there in that hole +in the wall, anyhow!" + +"And have your guns ready!" warned Snake Purdee. + +However, as it developed, the weapons were not needed. When the boy +ranchers and their friends managed to scramble up the rocky way, above +and to the right of the second hidden, branching stream, and found +themselves in what was virtually a little natural recess hollowed out +of the rocky wall, they saw that it was deserted. + +But there were plain evidences of the fact that the men they had seen +had fled in a hurry, as, indeed, they had practically witnessed. +Playing cards, cigarettes, tobacco and bottles were scattered on a rude +wooden table, and there were several candle-ends stuck in the necks of +flasks. The smell of the extinguished candles was heavy on the air. + +"But where did they go?" asked Bud, when a hasty glance around the +rocky room disclosed no occupants. + +"What's that?" asked Dick, pointing to what seemed to be a hole in the +floor at one corner. + +"It's a passage!" cried Billee, holding his lantern above it. "An' big +enough, even for me! I'm going down!" + +"Will it be safe?" asked Nort. "It may lead into the stream, or to +where they have planted a mine--they spoke of a fuse----" + +"You've got to take chances in times like these!" declared Old Billee. +"I guess if they went down it will suit us." + +"Unless they can close it up, or turn water in," suggested Snake, +dubiously. + +"Git out! I'm going down!" stoutly declared the rather fleshy veteran +cow puncher, and when he let himself down the hole the others followed. + +There was a natural stairway, or what served the same purpose, leading +down out of the stone room where the conspirators had been evidently +plotting so far underground. The passage went down, at first, like a +flight of steep, cellar stairs. Then it straightened out, and, after +twists and turns, led upward. + +"Where are we going?" asked Nort. + +"Nobody knows!" grimly answered Bud. "But it's safe so far!" + +"And we're right on their trail!" added Snake. + +"How do you know?" asked Billee. + +For answer Snake paused and pointed to a smouldering cigarette stub on +the rocky floor of the passage that had led out of the conspirators' +niche. + +"That wasn't dropped many minutes ago," declared the cowboy. "They +came along here." + +This was evident, but it was also evident that Del Pinzo and his +conspirators were sufficiently in advance to escape. For, with another +sudden turn, the passage led to another natural, rocky stairway, and +when this had been mounted the boy ranchers found themselves again in +the main tunnel. + +"What's this?" cried Bud, when it was evident that they had come back +to the place whence they had started, but farther on, and nearer to the +river end of the tunnel. "This is a regular maze!" + +"But where is Del Pinzo?" asked Dick. + +"Out there, I fancy," and Nort pointed to where the main tunnel +extended under the mountain and beyond, to the dam in Pocut River. +"They've gotten away!" + +"And about time, too!" added Snake, "or they'd be trapped as we may be!" + +"Trapped!" cried Old Billee. "What do you mean?" + +"I mean there's a mine set here, somewhere! Don't you smell powder +smoke?" + +A sharp, acrid odor, once smelled never forgotten, came to the nostrils +of all as they stood there in the tunnel, while the stream flowed +beside them. Whatever the conspirators had done, they had, evidently, +not shut off all the water. + +"There it is!" cried Dick, and he pointed to where, in the light of the +lanterns, there could be seen, slowly ascending, a thin wisp of smoke. + +"Look out!" yelled Old Billee as Dick dashed forward. "It may explode!" + +Then, as Dick rushed up with his lantern, they saw trailing over the +floor of the tunnel, and on the same side of the stream as themselves, +a thin white fuse, like a sinister snake. It was this burning fuse +which caused the smoke. + +It was the work of but an instant for Dick to step on it, and +extinguish the smouldering spark, while it yet had some distance to +travel before the fuse lost itself in a mass of rocks. + +"Whew! That was a close call!" exclaimed. Bud, when the fuse was +entirely out. + +"Let's see where it leads to," suggested Snake. + +They followed it up, and discovered a hidden mine of explosives, tamped +down into a hole that had been drilled in the rocky floor. Iron bars, +hammers and other mining implements showed that the perpetrators of the +dastardly deed had evidently fled in a hurry. + +"They were going to blow up the tunnel!" cried Nort. + +"And when that collapsed it would mean the end of Flume Valley," spoke +Bud soberly. + +"We never could have opened the tunnel again, with all these strange, +branching streams playing around inside." + +"But we reached here just in time!" declared Old Billee. "Now let's +get t' th' bottom of this. We know there's a main stream, an' two +branching streams. One of th' branching streams is controlled by th' +water gate with th' copper handle." + +"And there must be another gate here, or else Del Pinzo and his crowd +couldn't have shut off the water as they did before they ran away," +went on Bud. "There must be a whole maze of water-courses in this old +tunnel. Probably the Aztecs dug 'em to save their gold and other +valuables. But I'd like to know what that roaring is?" and as Bud and +the others listened they could hear a subdued murmur, a rumbling and +roaring sound, that seemed to shake the whole tunnel near where they +stood. + +"Maybe this leads to it," suggested Dick, as he walked along and +suddenly flashed his lantern across another opening--a natural stairway +leading down into black depths. + +"Let's try it," said Bud. + +Down it they went, one at a time, carrying their lanterns. And as they +advanced, descending until they came to a level passage, the murmur and +roaring became louder. + +"Would you look at that!" suddenly cried. Bud, in an awe-stricken +voice, as he came to a stop and pointed ahead. + +And then, as the others gathered about him and looked, they saw a +wondrous sight. + +They had entered a cavern, similar to the one where Nort had been +found, but not so large. And from the very centre, it appeared, of the +uneven rocky floor of the cave there spouted out a stream of water +about three inches in diameter. + +Solid white was this stream of water, like a bar of glass, and it shot +out of a round hole in the floor as a stream comes from the nozzle of a +fire hose. It was inclined at an angle of about forty-five degrees, +was this strange stream of water, and whence it came and whither it +went to the boys and their friends could only guess. + +It was this powerful, rushing stream, under immense head and power it +seemed, that caused the rumbling, roaring sound. It appeared to strike +against some rocky wall a long distance off, so far that the light of +the lanterns could not penetrate to it, and the searchers did not feel +like venturing beyond the point where the terrific stream issued. + +That it was of awful power was evidenced a moment later, for Bud, who +had picked up one of the bars of iron, used by the conspirators to set +their sinister mine, approached the stream and, raising the bar, +brought it down with all his force on the white, spurting jet. + +On an instant the heavy rod was torn from his grasp, and whirled +forward into the blackness beyond. There was a ringing, metallic sound +as it hit some distant rock, and then it came bounding back, sliding +across the rocky floor to the very feet of the searchers. + +"Look at that!" murmured Bud, as he stooped and picked up the bar. It +was bent and twisted into a sort of combined S and U shape, mute +evidence of the terrific power of the stream. + +"That would bore right through a man!" said Dick. + +"Like making a hole in cheese!" added Old Billee. "This is a terrible +place! Let's get out!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +HAPPY VALLEY + +Leaving behind them the roaring, rumbling jet of white water that came +from the unknown and went thitherward, the boy ranchers and their +friends made their way back to the main tunnel. + +"Well, there are two things we have to settle," declared Bud, when they +had sat down on convenient rocks, near the running stream, and began to +consider matters. + +"What are they?" asked "Nort. + +"One is, what effect has the turning of that lever we worked on the +main stream? The other is, where is the lever that Del Pinzo and his +gang shifted to cause this second branch stream to stop running?" + +"And when we find answers to those two questions," said Dick, "I think +we'll have solved the mystery." + +"Right!" cried Bud. "So let's get at them. In the first place some of +us will go back and shift the lever on the big rock in the first cave, +while some of us stay here to see what happens." + +The party was divided and when watches had been adjusted to mark the +same time, so it might be known how many minutes elapsed between the +shifting of the lever and any noticeable effect, Dick, Old Billee and +Snake went to the first cave--that of the huge boulder. + +It did not take long to demonstrate that when the water flowed from the +main stream into that side branch, the stream nearer the river end of +the tunnel went dry. But even with that no water passed along the main +tunnel so that it would flow into the reservoir of Flume Valley. + +"The water must flow out of the first big cave by some outlet we know +nothing about," decided Bud. "Now we'll look for the second water +gate." + +They found the lever that controlled this in a corner of the upper, +rocky room where Del Pinzo and his conspirators had been plotting when +discovered. And when this lever was pulled from the position in which +the seekers found it after the Mexican half-breed fled, the second +stream (by which I mean the one nearest the river end of the tunnel) +filled with water. But this did not affect the first. + +And not until both levers were set at positions which caused the branch +streams to empty, did any water fill the end of the tunnel near Bud's +ranch. + +But when this had been done; when the secret of working the levers was +discovered, and water was once again flowing along the valley end of +the tunnel, where the stream bed had been dry for two days, then Bud +cried: + +"The fight is over and we've won!" + +"I wouldn't say that yet," spoke Old Billee cautiously, "Del Pinzo an' +Hank Fisher are still around an' above ground. But I guess you've put +a crimp in 'em, boys!" + +"I reckon!" shouted Yellin' Kid. "But are we sure that the water now +goes to Flume Valley?" + +"We'll soon find out," declared Bud. "We're almost out of the tunnel +now, and we can 'phone back and ask." + +And a little later they did emerge from the mysterious underground +tunnel, with its still stranger water courses. But what was their +surprise to find that night had fallen--in fact it was not exactly +night, but nearly morning of the next day. + +For a moment coming out into the dark night bewildered them. And then, +as they stood at the mouth of the mysterious tunnel under the mountain, +there was a sharp crack. + +"Look out!" yelled Bud, as a bullet "zinged" viciously over their heads. + +In an instant Old Billee had whipped out his gun and sent a shot toward +a group of horsemen along the river bank. + +"There they are! Del Pinzo and his gang!" yelled Dick, as another +bullet sang over his head. "Come on! Let's get 'em!" + +"No use!" drawled Snake. "They've got hosses--we ain't!" + +And a moment later the gang of conspirators, firing another harmless +shot, swept out of view. + +A group of men swarmed from the store and adjacent shacks, roused by +the early-morning shooting, and with amazement they greeted our friends +and heard the strange story. + +"What day is it?" asked Bud. + +"Friday," some one answered. + +The mystery-solvers looked at one another in amazement. + +They had been in the tunnel nearly forty-eight hours without sleep, nor +did they feel the need of it, so exciting were the events that +transpired. + +But late, or, rather, early as it was, they managed to get in the store +to use the telephone. And when the gray dawn was breaking across Pocut +River, Bud learned, over the wire, from one of his father's cowboys +left at Flume Valley, that the reservoir was again being filled. + +"Hurray! It's all right!" yelled Bud, almost as loudly as the Kid +would have done. "I guess, from now on, we'll have no trouble. But +I'm going to see if we can't get Del Pinzo. He and his gang certainly +tried to blow up the place, and us with it." + +"To say nothing of trying, as I believe, to drown, us like rats in +there, by shutting off and turning on those queer streams," added Nort. + +"Do you think they really meant to drown us or blow us up?" asked Dick. + +That question was never answered, for Del Pinzo and his more intimate +associates disappeared after their flight from the tunnel, when they +fled following the shifting of the lever and the lighting of the fuse. + +There was dynamite tamped in among the rocks, and but for the stamping +out of the fuse the tunnel never would have carried any more water to +Flume Valley, and those in it might never have come out. + +Hank Fisher stoutly denied that Del Pinzo was acting for him either in +planting the explosives or in shutting off the water from the reservoir +of the boy ranchers. But everyone had their suspicions. + +For that it was Del Pinzo who had sent, or caused to be sent the +mysterious warnings, no one doubted. Nor did anyone doubt but that the +vicious Mexican half-breed had played tricks with the water. + +For that is what they amounted to--tricks. Who built the +copper-lever-controlled water gates, putting them in to utilize the +winding underground streams, no one could tell. It may have been the +Aztecs. The powerful, slanting stream of water, it was discovered, +formed the outlet of the shunted-in-river stream when the two side +channels were opened so that Flume Valley's water supply was cut off. + +The water gates and the underground streams formed the chief mystery, +and these never could be fully explored. It was thought too dangerous. +How Del Pinzo discovered the workings of the levers, utilizing them to +try to end the rule of the boy ranchers in Flume Valley, was not +disclosed for many years. + +"You won't have any further trouble, now that the gates are closed and +the levers taken off," Mr. Merkel said, for that had been done. +"You'll get all the water you want in Flume Valley." + +"Guess I'll call it Happy Valley," said Bud, "for everything is coming +out right, now." + +"In spite of black rabbits!" chuckled Old Billee. + +"Yes, even with black jacks!" laughed Bud. "Everything is working +fine, now." + +And so it was. For with the discovery of the secret water gates and +the disappearance of Del Pinzo, the epidemic died away. Though this, +of course, was due to the arrest of Pocut Pete. + +That scoundrel was found guilty and sentenced to a long term in prison. +But he kept his counsel, and never actually confessed that it was Hank +Fisher who set him to this dastardly trick--if, indeed, it was that +unscrupulous ranchman of Double Z. + +That it was rustlers from Double Z who had tried to drive off some of +the boy ranchers' cattle was not doubted, the finding of the branding +iron being regarded as telltale evidence. But this was not enough to +cause any arrests. + +"Well, what are we going to do next?" asked Dick, of his brother and +cousin, when they were fishing in the reservoir one evening, as, with +the closing of the hidden gates and the uninterrupted flow of the +water, many more finny prizes could be hooked. + +"Get ready for a big shipment of cattle," said Bud. "I never saw any +finer stock than we have here in Happy Valley. That's our next +move--reap the benefits of our hard work." + +But the lads did more than that. And those of you who wish to follow +their fortunes further may do go in the next volume of this series, +which will be called: "The Boy Ranchers on the Trail; or Diamond X +After Cattle Rustlers." + +"Who's that down at camp?" asked Dick, as he pulled up a good-sized +fish and put it beside him on the grass. + +"Looks like Nell and your mother," said Nort to Bud. + +"It is!" Bud cried. "They said they'd come over, and Nell promised to +bring a pie! Come on; we got enough fish!" + +And down the reservoir rushed the boy ranchers to greet their visitors. + +"Any pie, Nell?" cried Bud. + +"Sure," was the answer. "But it's for company--Dick and Nort!" + +"Ho! I'd like to see 'em grab it all!" challenged Bud, as he reached +for the basket his sister held. "By Zip Foster I would!" + +"Say, who is Zip Foster anyhow?" demanded Nort. + +"Oh, I'll tell you--later!" chuckled Bud, and, as he removed the cover +of the basket, delighted "Oh!" and "Ah!" exclamations came from him and +his cousins at the sight within. + +Some of the cowboys came riding back to camp from the round-up, Old +Billee cheerfully chanting: + + "Oh, bury me deep on th' lone prairie!" + + +And with this happy mingling of the joyful and sad we will take leave +of the boy ranchers for a time. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + +THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES + +BY WILLARD F. BAKER + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors._ + +_Stories of the great west, with cattle ranches as a setting, related +in such a style as to captivate the hearts of all boys._ + + +1. THE BOY RANCHERS _or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X_ + +Two eastern boys visit their cousin. They become involved in an +exciting mystery. + +2. THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP _or The Water Fight at Diamond X_ + +Returning for a visit, the two eastern lads learn with delight, that +they are to become boy ranchers. + +3. THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL _or The Diamond X After Cattle +Rustlers_ + +Our boy heroes take the trail after Del Pinzo and his outlaws. + +4. THE BOY RANCHERS AMONG THE INDIANS _or Trailing the Yaquis_ + +Rosemary and Floyd are captured by the Yaqui Indians but the boy +ranchers trailed them into the mountains and effected the rescue. + +5. THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK _or Fighting the Sheep Herders_ + +Dangerous struggle against desperadoes for land rights brings out +heroic adventures. + +6. THE BOY RANCHERS IN THE DESERT _or Diamond X and the Lost Mine_ + +One night a strange old miner almost dead from hunger and hardship +arrived at the bunk house. The boys cared for him and he told them of +the lost desert mine. + +7. THE BOY RANCHERS ON ROARING RIVER _or Diamond X and the Chinese +Smugglers_ + +The boy ranchers help capture Delton's gang who were engaged in +smuggling Chinese across the border. + + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York. + + +THE WEBSTER SERIES + +By FRANK V. WEBSTER + + +Mr. Webster's style Is very much like that of the boys' favorite +author, the late lamented Horatio Alger, Jr., but his tales are +thoroughly up-to-date. + + +_Cloth. 12mo. Over 200 pages each. Illustrated. Stamped in various +colors._ + + +Only A Farm Boy _or Dan Hardy's Rise in Life_ + +The Boy From The Ranch _or Roy Bradner's City Experiences_ + +The Young Treasure Hunter _or Fred Stanley's Trip to Alaska_ + +The Boy Pilot of the Lakes _or Nat Morton's Perils_ + +Tom The Telephone Boy _or The Mystery of a Message_ + +Bob The Castaway _or The Wreck of the Eagle_ + +The Newsboy Partners _or Who Was Dick Box!_ + +Two Boy Gold Miners _or Lost in the Mountains_ + +The Young Firemen of Lakeville _or Herbert Dare's Pluck_ + +The Boys of Bellwood School _or Frank Jordan's Triumph_ + +Jack the Runaway _or On the Road with a Circus_ + +Bob Chester's Grit _or From Ranch to Riches_ + +Airship Andy _or The Luck of a Brave Boy_ + +High School Rivals _or Fred Markham's Struggles_ + +Darry The Life Saver _or The Heroes of the Coast_ + +Dick The Bank Boy _or A Missing Fortune_ + +Ben Hardy's Flying Machine _or Making a Record for Himself_ + +Harry Watson's High School Day _or The Rivals of Rivertown_ + +Comrades of the Saddle _or The Young Rough Riders of the Plains_ + +Tom Taylor at West Point _or The Old Army Officer's Secret_ + +The Boy Scouts of Lennox _or Hiking Over Big Bear Mountain_ + +The Boys of the Wireless _or a Stirring Rescue from the Deep_ + +Cowboy Dave _or The Round-up at Rolling River_ + +Jack of the Pony Express _or The Young Rider of the Mountain Trail_ + +The Boys of the Battleship _or For the Honor of Uncle Sam_ + + +CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers. New York. + + + +THE JEWEL SERIES + +BY AMES THOMPSON + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in colors._ + + +_A series of stories brimming with hardy adventure, vivid and accurate +in detail, and with a good foundation of probability. They take the +reader realistically to the scene of action. Besides being lively and +full of real situations, they are written in a straight-forward way +very attractive to boy readers._ + + +1. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE VALLEY OF DIAMONDS + +Malcolm Edwards and his son Ralph are adventurers with ample means for +following up their interest in jewel clues. In this book they form a +party of five, including Jimmy Stone and Bret Hartson, boys of Ralph's +age, and a shrewd level-headed sailor named Stanley Greene. They find +a valley of diamonds in the heart of Africa. + +2. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE RIVER OF EMERALDS + +The five adventurers, staying at a hotel in San Francisco, find that +Pedro the elevator man has an interesting story of a hidden, "river of +emeralds" in Peru, to tell. With him as guide, they set out to find +it, escape various traps set for them by jealous Peruvians, and are +much amused by Pedro all through the experience. + +3. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE LAGOON OF PEARLS + +This time the group starts out on a cruise simply for pleasure, but +their adventuresome spirits lead them into the thick of things on a +South Sea cannibal island. + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. New York. + + + +THE BOMBA BOOKS + +BY ROY ROCKWOOD + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. With colored jacket._ + + +_Bomba lived far back in the jungles of the Amazon with a half-demented +naturalist who told the lad nothing of his past. The jungle boy was a +lover of birds, and hunted animals with a bow and arrow and his trusty +machete. He had a primitive education in some things, and his daring +adventures will be followed with breathless interest by thousands._ + + +1. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY + _or The Old Naturalist's Secret_ + +In the depth of the jungle Bomba lives a life replete with thrilling +situations. Once he saves the lives of two American rubber hunters who +ask him who he is, and how he had come into the jungle. He sets off to +solve the mystery of his identity. + +2. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE MOVING MOUNTAIN + _or The Mystery of the Caves of Fire_ + +Bomba travels through the jungle, encountering wild beasts and hostile +natives. At last he trails the old man of the burning mountain to his +cave and learns more concerning himself. + +3. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE GIANT CATARACT + _or Chief Nascanora and His Captives_ + +From the Moving Mountain Bomba travels to the Giant Cataract, still +searching out his parentage. Among the Pilati Indians he finds some +white captives, and an aged opera singer who is the first to give Bomba +real news of his forebears. + +4. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON JAGUAR ISLAND + _or Adrift on the River of Mystery_ + +Jaguar Island was a spot as dangerous as it was mysterious and Bomba +was warned to keep away. But the plucky boy sallied forth and met +adventures galore. + +5. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE ABANDONED CITY + _or A Treasure Ten Thousand Years Old_ + +Years ago this great city had sunk out of sight beneath the trees of +the jungle. A wily half-breed and his tribe thought to carry away its +treasure of gold and precious stones. Bomba follows. + + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Boy Ranchers in Camp, by Willard F. 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