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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Dick and Dr. Dan, by C. Little
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: Dick and Dr. Dan
+       Or, the boy monster hunters of the bad lands
+
+Author: C. Little
+
+Release Date: August 6, 2022 [eBook #68698]
+
+Language: English
+
+Produced by: Demian Katz, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online Distributed
+             Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Images courtesy
+             of the Digital Library@Villanova University.)
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK AND DR. DAN ***
+
+
+Transcriber’s Notes:
+
+Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
+
+This novel was serialized in the _Happy Days_ story paper from March
+17-May 3, 1900 (issues 283-290), and it does not appear to have ever
+been published in book form.
+
+Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Dick and Dr. Dan; Or, THE BOY MONSTER HUNTERS OF THE BAD LANDS.
+
+
+  By C. LITTLE.
+
+  FRANK TOUSEY
+  24 Union Square
+  New York, N. Y.
+
+  1900
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dick and Dr. Dan.
+
+By C. LITTLE.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I. A MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR.
+
+
+“Hello, Dick! Where are you going in such a hurry? You must have had
+your breakfast and it isn’t dinner time yet.”
+
+Two boys of about eighteen years met unexpectedly in the little park in
+front of the United States National Museum, Washington, D. C.
+
+Dick Darrell was one and Charley Nicholson the other; both were in the
+employ of the paleontological department of the museum, their duties
+being to sort out and arrange the bones of the various prehistoric
+animals found by the agents of the museum in different parts of the
+United States.
+
+“I’m not after grub just now, Charley,” replied Dick. “Perhaps you
+don’t know that I’ve been under the weather for the last day or two,
+but such is the fact. Wasn’t coming down this morning, but I just
+received a telegram from old Poynter telling me to come at once if I
+was able to leave my bed.”
+
+“Hello!” cried Charley. “What’s in the wind now, I wonder? Have you
+drawn another prize?”
+
+“Can’t tell.”
+
+“Great Scott! I only wish it was my luck.”
+
+“Wait a bit. Perhaps I’m going to get the grand bounce.”
+
+“I hardly think that. Oh, I know! You are going to be sent off on some
+bone hunting expedition or another. A regular picnic. Something that
+will last all summer. No such luck ever comes my way.”
+
+“You can’t tell. Stick to your work and try to do it the best you
+possibly can; that’s the thing that brings promotion every time.”
+
+The boys separated inside the employees’ door of the museum, for
+Charley’s duties called him to the extreme end of the long building,
+while Dick was bound for Professor Poynter’s office, on the second
+floor.
+
+That genial old scientist was at his desk busily writing.
+
+“Good morning, Dick,” he called out. “One minute, my boy, until I
+finish this letter; then I will talk.”
+
+Dick waited patiently for fully fifteen minutes, after which the
+professor folded up his letter and motioned to him to draw up a chair.
+
+“Dick,” he said, “we want you for another expedition. You did so well
+down among the fossil beds of South Carolina that we are disposed to
+try you again.”
+
+“Thank you, sir,” replied Dick. “I always try to do my best. What is it
+to be this time?”
+
+“Well, it isn’t bone hunting,” replied the professor, “and you will be
+surprised when I tell you what it is.”
+
+Professor Poynter paused and began tumbling over the mass of papers
+upon his desk, leaving Dick to wonder what it all meant.
+
+“I have the letter here somewhere,” he said, “but I don’t seem to find
+it. Ah, yes! Here it is, and here’s the newspaper cutting attached
+to it which first called our attention to the matter. It’s from the
+Cheyenne Herald of a month ago. Listen to this:
+
+“Ike Izard and Doctor Dan are in town again, back from a three weeks’
+bone hunting trip in the Bad Lands. Ike seems to be sober--more so than
+usual--but he reports a most astonishing experience, which is certainly
+enough to make us wonder how heavy a supply of Cheyenne bug juice he
+and the doctor had with them on their last trip.
+
+“It seems that they started out from Node Ranch and went into the
+Bad Lands as far as Walker’s Creek, pretty well covering the central
+eastern section of Converse county; one morning, after climbing a high
+mountain--Ike declares they went up at least 5,000 feet--they came
+suddenly upon a lake a mile or more wide and five miles long, which
+is not down on the maps, and so Ike took the liberty of naming it for
+himself, Izard Lake.
+
+“Here they went into camp and spent several days, as the shores of the
+lake were well strewn with fossil bones of the sort they were out after.
+
+“On the morning of the third day Ike was suddenly awakened by a strange
+bellowing, which seemed to come from off on the water. He shook up the
+doctor and they both ran out and were nearly paralyzed (question is
+if they weren’t entirely paralyzed the night before) at seeing a huge
+monster swimming toward them over the lake, bellowing like a mad bull.
+
+“Ike describes it as having a huge oval body, rounded like a
+turtle, about twenty feet long, from which rose an immensely long
+neck--Ike declares it was half as long again as the body, ending in a
+comparatively small head, like a snake’s head in shape, but with an
+enormous mouth full of monstrous teeth.
+
+“Ike says that the monster swam very gracefully, being provided with
+fins, which acted as paddles, two on each side. He and the doctor each
+took a shot at it, but in consequence of their semi-paralyzed condition
+the shots did nothing more than to so scare the creature that it took
+a header into the lake and was seen no more.
+
+“This is the biggest yarn Ike has given us yet, but he promises to
+think up a bigger one for the next trip into the Bad Lands. Send it
+along, Isaac. We shall always be glad to print any story that you may
+have to tell.”
+
+“There!” exclaimed Professor Poynter. “What do you think of that, Dick?”
+
+“Why, it seems to me, sir, that somebody has worked up the description
+of the Plesiosaurus Dolichodeirus and made a good yarn about it. Of
+course you don’t believe the story can be true?”
+
+“Such was my first idea, of course,” replied the professor, “but I
+make it an invariable rule to investigate all these newspaper stories.
+Nine-tenths of them, of course, turn out to be fakes, but as it happens
+in this case that this fellow Izard is in our employ and we know him to
+be a most faithful man and entirely a sober person, I felt all the more
+interest in the matter, so I at once wrote him and received this reply.”
+
+Here the professor unfolded the letter and read as follows:
+
+ CHEYENNE, Wyo., March 10.
+
+ DEAR SIR:--That story about the monster is true i swar it is as I
+ hope for hiven i didn’t rite it to you bekos i tought you wood think
+ me line but its true jest the same and if you don’t believe me ask
+ Doc Dan who will tell you that we seen it up to the lake say jest
+ fer satisfaction i am goin’ to take my oath before a notary publick
+ the thing was there i never seen nothing like it in all my life you
+ couldn’t ketch it and there would be no use trying don’t believe a
+ yoke of steers could drag the carcass down to Node Ranch even if
+ you could get the steers up the mountain which you couldn’t. Mebbe
+ it would pay you to send a feller out to get a snap shot at it. Yrs
+ trooly,
+
+ IKE IZARD.
+
+ P. S.--You can bet your bottom dollar it’s no lye. IKE.
+
+Accompanying the letter was the affidavit duly signed before a notary
+public.
+
+There was also one from Doctor Dan, who Professor Poynter explained was
+an Indian guide, who usually accompanied Ike Izard on his expeditions
+after fossil bones.
+
+“There,” said Professor Poynter. “There’s the story, Dick. It is
+extremely unlikely that it is true, but still it may be, and we have
+determined to send you out to the Bad Lands of Wyoming to investigate.
+When will you be ready to start?”
+
+“To-morrow morning,” replied Dick, promptly, “but let me ask one
+question, have the fossil remains of the P. Dolichodeirus been found in
+that part of the Bad Lands?”
+
+“Many times, my boy.”
+
+“Then it is possible that one or two specimens may have survived?”
+
+“Just possible, but no more. As you are well aware, this creature
+belongs to an entirely different period of the earth’s history from the
+one in which we are at present living. On the other hand, it is a fact
+that the lakes of eastern Wyoming are the remains of an old prehistoric
+sea which once covered all this section. The Great Salt Lake is another
+remnant of it and there are others still. The chances of the story
+being true, however, are exceedingly remote.”
+
+“It would be an immense discovery if it was, sir.”
+
+“Of incalculable value to science. Should you be fortunate enough to
+make such a discovery you are authorized to spare no expense to pen the
+creature into some cove, if such a thing is possible, but we prefer
+you should not kill it. Of course if you see it you will telegraph me
+at the first possible moment and I will come right out. Every effort
+should be made to take it alive, in order that we may study its habits.
+You can go to the cashier and draw what money you think you may need.
+You will go first to Node Ranch, where I have instructed Doctor Dan to
+meet you; Izard himself is off on another expedition and you will not
+see him. That’s all, except that you will need an assistant. I leave
+it to you to make your choice.”
+
+“Will Charley Nicholson suit, sir?” asked Dick, eagerly.
+
+“He is rather young,” replied the professor, “but still I know you are
+great friends, so I will not object. That’s all, Dick. Leave me now,
+for I have a mountain of work ahead of me. It won’t be necessary for
+you to call again.”
+
+Dick left the office, wild with enthusiasm. As for Charley, there was
+no restraining him when he heard the good news.
+
+And, indeed, the boys were admirably adapted to the work, Dick being
+without parents or family ties of any kind. Charley’s mother had long
+since been dead, while his father was a sea captain, who showed little
+or no interest in the welfare of his son.
+
+Thus these two boys were practically without ties and it might be
+supposed that Dick could easily have named an earlier hour for his
+departure than the next morning, and so he might and certainly would
+have done so if it had not happened that he had an engagement to attend
+a social gathering that evening at the house of one of his friends.
+
+Having drawn his money, Dick bought tickets for himself and Charley for
+Fort Fetterman, Wyoming, where it would be necessary to go off on a
+branch road to Node Ranch.
+
+The boys spent the afternoon in buying the necessary things for the
+trip and in packing up.
+
+At ten o’clock Dick left a certain house on B street, N. W., where he
+had passed the evening, and started for his own room, which was located
+on H street, a few squares away. As he was passing down B street,
+deeply engrossed in thought about the strange mission with which he had
+been charged, he saw two young girls come running down the stoop of a
+house a little way ahead of him.
+
+Evidently they lived close by, for they wore no wraps and the April air
+was damp and chilly.
+
+Dick watched them as they turned the corner and they would have passed
+out of his mind in a moment if he had not been startled all at once by
+a piercing scream.
+
+“Help! Help!” came the cry ringing out upon the night.
+
+Dick darted around the corner like a shot. He was certain that the cry
+had proceeded from the two girls and he was right.
+
+There they stood backed against the iron railing of the corner house,
+with two young toughs, both very drunk, standing before them, laughing.
+
+“You can’t pass us that way, ladies,” Dick heard one of the pair say.
+“We want to know your names and where you are going--that’s what.”
+
+“Hands off those ladies!” cried Dick, running up.
+
+[Illustration: Right in front of them, not ten feet away, a huge shiny
+head, long and flat, with an enormous mouth filled with horrible teeth
+and two great, glittering eyes set on the sides, projected over the
+rocks. “The monster!” shouted Dick, and instantly the head darted
+forward, followed by a long, sinewy neck. Inset 1: MR. MARTIN MUDD.
+Inset 2: “HANDS OFF THOSE LADIES.”]
+
+“Mind your own business,” snarled one of the “lushers,” aiming a blow
+at Dick. “What is it to you?”
+
+“This!” cried Dick, striking out from the shoulder and landing his fist
+between the fellow’s eyes, tumbling him back against the electric light
+pole.
+
+The fellow gave a yell, reeled and fell over in the gutter, while the
+other one jumped in and caught Dick by the throat.
+
+“I’ll kill you for this!” he hissed, whipping out a long knife and
+flourishing it around the neighborhood of Dick’s heart, as he backed
+him up against the post.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II. ANOTHER MYSTERY OF A DIFFERENT SORT.
+
+
+Dick was in a dangerous fix.
+
+The fellow who had caught hold of him was very drunk and had a grip
+like a vise.
+
+The two girls screamed, while Dick tried to grab the knife which the
+“lusher” kept flourishing, swearing horribly at Dick all the while.
+
+How it would have ended if help had not come promptly it is impossible
+to say, but, as it happened, just at this critical moment a man came
+dashing around the corner.
+
+He was a tall and very thin person, shabbily dressed in an old ulster
+and a battered plug hat.
+
+He seemed to take in the situation at a glance and pounced upon the
+“lusher” without ceremony, wrenching away the knife and flinging it
+into the street, pounding the fellow about the head and face with such
+vigor that he promptly took to his heels and made off, followed by his
+friend.
+
+“There!” exclaimed the man in the ulster. “There! That’s the way to do
+it! Ladies, your most obedient! Let me see, have I not the pleasure of
+addressing Miss Clara Eglinton? Ah, yes. I thought so. Miss E., your
+humble servant. Yours, too, Miss What’s-your-name, and yours, my dear
+sir. My name is Mudd. Martin Mudd. I am always ready and willing to
+come to the assistance of any one in distress.”
+
+“I’m sure I’m ever so much obliged, sir,” replied Dick. “My name is
+Darrell. Dick Darrell, I----”
+
+What was the matter with Martin Mudd?
+
+The instant Dick announced his name he started back theatrically,
+stared, raised his hat to the two girls, and, wheeling about, turned
+the corner and disappeared.
+
+“Is he crazy? He must be!” exclaimed Dick.
+
+“No, I don’t think so,” replied the girl addressed as Clara Eglinton,
+a beautiful blonde of about Dick’s own age. “He is very eccentric,
+though. He sometimes has business with my father. Oh, Mr. Darrell,
+I want to thank you ever and ever so much for your brave act. Those
+insulting fellows! It was just dreadful! I don’t know what Susie and I
+would have done if you had not come.”
+
+“I’m sure I’m most happy to have been of service to you,” replied Dick,
+raising his hat. “May I offer to see you to your home?”
+
+“Why, it is right here in the next house,” replied the girl. “Good
+night, Mr. Darrell. We must go in.”
+
+Evidently Miss Eglinton did not care to pursue the acquaintance.
+
+Dick tipped his hat again and the two girls ran up the stoop of a
+handsome house and vanished in an instant, leaving Dick to continue his
+walk.
+
+“A pretty girl!” he murmured. “A very pretty girl. I only wish I was
+going to stay in Washington. I might find a chance to get better
+acquainted, but I suppose she will forget all about me before I return.”
+
+He walked on, wholly oblivious to the fact that Mr. Martin Mudd, with
+rubbers on his feet, was stealing after him, staring forward with
+gleaming eyes.
+
+What prompted Dick to turn suddenly and look behind him just before he
+reached the next corner?
+
+Surely there must have been some good angel watching over the boy, for
+there was the man close behind him with the very knife the “lusher” had
+dropped clutched in his hand.
+
+“Now I’ve got you, Dick Darrell!” he hissed, and he made a desperate
+lunge at the boy, who dodged the stroke just in time.
+
+Martin Mudd did not attempt to repeat it. With a sharp cry he turned
+and ran like a deer.
+
+Dick shouted after him and followed back along the block, but the man
+turned the corner first and when Dick got around he had disappeared.
+
+And that was the end of the adventure.
+
+Deeply puzzled over the mysterious affair which he could only attribute
+to insanity on the part of the man with the muddy name, Dick went home
+and was soon in bed, where he lay tossing wide awake until morning.
+
+It was the tone in which Martin Mudd had spoken his name and the start
+he had given when Dick first introduced himself that bothered the boy.
+
+“He certainly seemed to know me,” Dick said to himself a hundred times.
+“What can it all mean?”
+
+He gave up thinking about it when morning came and hurried to the B. &
+O. station, where he met Charley all ready for the journey.
+
+The run to Chicago was made in good time and without adventure.
+
+There was no stop here, except to change cars, and the next thing the
+boys knew they were in Omaha, where they took the Union Pacific to
+Cheyenne and then ran up to Fort Fetterman, changed cars again and in
+due time were set down on a barren, alkali plain, where there was a
+station, a windmill, a water tank and a dozen houses--they had reached
+Node Ranch at last.
+
+The boys went at once to the Palace Hotel, which proved to be a dirty
+old roost of the worst kind.
+
+“Heavens!” exclaimed Charley; “if we had to stay here long I should
+give up the ghost.”
+
+Dick felt about the same way, but as it happened they did not have to
+stay at the Palace at all, for they had scarcely located themselves
+in their room and Dick was just getting ready to go out and look for
+Doctor Dan, when all at once there was a knock on the door and when
+Charley opened it there stood a tall Indian dressed in an ordinary
+business suit, with nothing to distinguish him from a white man except
+his features and his long black hair.
+
+“I want to see Dick Darrell,” he said, without a trace of accent. “Are
+you the young man?”
+
+“No; this is Dick Darrell,” replied Charley, pointing to his friend.
+“Come in.”
+
+The Indian entered the room with solemn tread and an expression of
+imperturbable gravity upon his swarthy face.
+
+“I suppose this is Doctor Dan!” exclaimed Dick, extending his hand.
+“I’m glad to see you, I’m sure.”
+
+“That’s how,” replied the Indian, “I was ordered to meet you here by
+Professor Poynter.”
+
+“That’s right.”
+
+“I’m ordered to take you up into the Bad Lands to Izard Lake,”
+continued Doctor Dan, slowly. “The horses are all ready, likewise the
+pack mules, of which there are two. Provision I have laid in enough to
+last a month. I have three rifles and two guns. I have blankets and two
+tents and cooking utensils. If there is anything more you wish I will
+procure it if it is to be had in Node Ranch.”
+
+The deliberateness with which he spoke was almost ludicrous. It was all
+the boys could do to suppress their smiles.
+
+“Why, I should say you had got everything we could possibly need,” said
+Dick. “You speak as good English as I do, doctor. Are you a half-breed?”
+
+“No, sir, I am not,” replied Doctor Dan, in the same slow way. “I
+am a full blooded Sioux, but I was adopted by a rancher when I was
+a little boy and I was educated at Carlisle College, Pennsylvania,
+an institution for the education of Indian youths, of which you have
+doubtless heard.”
+
+Poor Dick was almost overpowered. As for Charley, he had to go out in
+the passage and explode or he would have laughed in Doctor Dan’s face.
+
+“Well, I’m sure I’m much obliged to you for doing everything up in such
+good shape,” said Dick. “When do we start?”
+
+“Right away after dinner if you follow my advice,” was the reply. “We
+have got a long road before us. It will take us three days to reach the
+foot of the mountain. If you are anxious to get to work, as I take it
+you are, there is no time to lose.”
+
+“I certainly am,” said Dick, “so we will go at once. Charley and I will
+be ready say at one o’clock.”
+
+“At one o’clock,” repeated Doctor Dan, solemnly. “That is an
+engagement. I will keep it. Good day.”
+
+“What about the monster?” asked Dick. “You saw it, I believe.”
+
+“I did. It is there,” replied Doctor Dan.
+
+“Can you describe it?”
+
+Doctor Dan entered into a most accurate description of the
+Plesiosaurus. It seemed hard to imagine that he was lying and Dick’s
+hope was greatly aroused.
+
+“It will be the making of us, Charley,” he remarked, as they went in to
+dinner a little later, after Doctor Dan had left the hotel.
+
+“Gentlemen, did you register?” called the clerk from behind the desk.
+
+“No,” replied Dick, turning back.
+
+“Then please do. It’s the law and we have to trouble you.”
+
+Dick took up the pen and was about to sign his name to the register
+when he suddenly gave a quick start.
+
+“What’s the matter?” asked Charley.
+
+“Look!” exclaimed Dick, pointing to the name written on the line above
+where he was about to write his own.
+
+The name, written in a bold, firm hand, was MARTIN MUDD.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III. ABOUT THE STRANGE HEAD THAT CAME OVER THE ROCKS.
+
+
+“Strange!” whispered Charley, as Dick signed the register. “There could
+hardly be two with such a name.”
+
+Dick had told Charley all about his adventure, of course.
+
+“I don’t see how it can be the same man,” he said, “but we’ll soon find
+out. Do you know that gentleman?” he asked the clerk, pointing to the
+name.
+
+“Yes, I know him,” was the reply. “He came in by the westbound train
+this morning. He used to live here. Why do you ask?”
+
+“Because I met him in Washington only a few days ago. Is he in the
+hotel now?”
+
+“No,” replied the clerk. “He bought a horse and went off up into the
+mountains. He’s a mining prospector. If you should happen to meet him I
+advise you strongly to give him the cold shoulder. He’s a bad lot.”
+
+“Is he crazy?” asked Dick.
+
+“Not he!” exclaimed the clerk. “He’s a big liar, though, and a thief
+from way back, but he’s well educated and can talk almost as well as
+Doctor Dan.”
+
+“What about Doctor Dan?” asked Charley. “Is he all right?”
+
+“Yes, you can bank on him every time, even if he is an Indian. Queer
+feller, isn’t he? They say he’s got a lot of education, but an Injun’s
+an Injun wherever you strike him, that’s sure.”
+
+Having delivered himself of this sentiment the clerk wrote the room
+number after the boys’ names and Dick and Charley went in to dinner,
+which was much better than they expected to find.
+
+At one o’clock precisely the start was made, Doctor Dan appearing on
+the scene with the horses and mules.
+
+All the rest of the afternoon the ride continued.
+
+Their way led over a barren plain overgrown with sage brush and strewn
+with the white alkali of the country.
+
+High mountains rose in the far distance. Doctor Dan informed the boys
+that they skirted the edge of the Bad Lands.
+
+When night came on a halt was made and Doctor Dan put up the tents in
+the most expert manner, hobbling the horses and cooking a splendid
+supper of antelope steak and a sort of cornbread, which he rolled out
+on a flat stone and cooked in round balls among the hot ashes.
+
+After supper the boys rolled themselves up in their blankets and slept
+comfortably until morning, Doctor Dan going on guard.
+
+He informed the boys that he was accustomed to going three or four days
+at a stretch without sleep and that they would not be called upon to
+mount guard at night until they reached the lake and probably not then
+unless they found some special cause for alarm.
+
+The second day’s journey resembled the first too closely to need
+description. When they went into camp that night they could see beyond
+them a stretch of country which appeared to be one mass of great sand
+hills which rose in every direction.
+
+Doctor Dan informed them that this was the beginning of the Bad Lands.
+
+“Those sand hills run away over into South Dakota for more than a
+hundred miles,” he declared. “It’s a terrible country. Not a drop of
+water anywhere. There is nothing like it in the whole world.”
+
+Dick and Charley were all anxiety to see it and within a very short
+time after they started out next morning their wish was gratified, for
+they found themselves in the midst of the sand hills steadily advancing
+toward an isolated peak, which Doctor Dan informed them was their
+destination.
+
+It was a fearful country surely. As far as the eye could reach the
+sand hills rose all around them, with not a tree nor a blade of grass
+visible anywhere.
+
+Later in the day they began to ascend and at last came out upon a broad
+table land, a mere desert of yellow sand, broken by great rifts called
+barrancas in every direction. It required an artist to work around
+these breaks, but Doctor Dan seemed to be perfectly acquainted with the
+trail, although he declared that he had never visited this part of the
+Bad Lands, excepting on his previous trip.
+
+The mountain was now steadily drawing nearer, and by four o’clock they
+reached its base without having seen the slightest sign of life of any
+kind since they entered the Bad Lands.
+
+“Now, then, where does the lake lie?” asked Dick, looking up at the
+towering cliffs of reddish, disintegrated stone which rose above them.
+
+“It’s in that direction, about a thousand feet up,” replied Doctor Dan,
+pointing.
+
+“Can we ride up?”
+
+“Oh, yes. There’s an easy trail. It’s almost like a road, but it winds
+about a good deal.”
+
+“Then we go right on and camp there?”
+
+“Just as you say, sir.”
+
+“I say yes, by all means, providing it is a good place for our camp.”
+
+“It is quite as good as it is here. Better, in fact, for the lake lies
+in a sort of natural basin and if we should happen to get a snowstorm,
+which we may, we would be protected.”
+
+“We will go right on, then,” said Charley. “Hadn’t we better, Dick?”
+
+“Decidedly,” replied Dick. “We can get our permanent camp all fixed up
+before dark.”
+
+The ascent then began. As they passed up the mountainside with no trees
+to obstruct their view, the boys were amazed at the wonderful panorama
+displayed.
+
+It was as if they were looking down upon a sea of sand, and it was easy
+to imagine it the bed of some old, vanished ocean, as scientists tell
+us the Bad Lands actually are.
+
+For half an hour the horses toiled up the steep slope, first to the
+right, then to the left, but always rising until at last they came
+suddenly out upon a level plain, entirely surrounded by towering
+cliffs, except for the narrow break through which they entered.
+
+“The crater of an old volcano!” cried Dick. “That’s what this place is
+sure.”
+
+“So I have been informed,” replied Doctor Dan, with his usual gravity.
+
+“Where’s the lake?” asked Charley.
+
+“Just around that bend in the cliffs,” was the reply. “This sink is
+double, as you may say. The wall runs pretty near through the middle of
+it. One half is dry and the lake fills the other half. We shall see it
+in a minute now.”
+
+They rode on and soon turned the corner of the dividing cliff.
+
+A broad stretch of water now lay before them. The lake was many times
+longer than the dry half of the old crater.
+
+Its surface was perfectly placid and the water seemed to give out a
+strange, sulphurous odor. The shores were broken by projecting points
+of rocks, which cut up the lake into many small coves.
+
+“Now, where’s your Plesiosaurus?” exclaimed Charley. “Let him show
+himself. He’s got an audience that will appreciate him, you bet.”
+
+“It was right over there abreast that little island that I first saw
+him,” said Doctor Dan, gravely. “His body reached almost to that point
+of rocks on the opposite shore. I hope you don’t think it is all a
+fake, boys, but I suppose you will never believe it until you see for
+yourselves.”
+
+“That’s what we are here for,” replied Dick, “and it is no reflection
+on you, doctor, if we find it hard work to believe what we have not
+seen, but where do we make our camp?”
+
+Doctor Dan pointed out the spot where he and Ike Izard had camped and
+there, sure enough, the boys found traces of a fire and other things
+which seemed to prove his story true.
+
+The horses were now hobbled and the tents pitched.
+
+Dr. Dan cooked supper in his usual fine style and everything was
+arranged for the night.
+
+When the supper was over, as it was not yet dark, Dick proposed a walk,
+and all three, shouldering their rifles, for there was no telling what
+might happen, started along the lake shore, winding in and out around
+the projecting cliffs until they had gone at least a mile.
+
+It was now getting toward dusk and Dick, in spite of his hopes, began
+to abandon all idea of seeing anything of the monster of the lake that
+day.
+
+“I suppose we might wait around here for days and not see him,” he
+said. “Wonder how long a Plesiosaurus can stay down under the water,
+anyhow?”
+
+“Is it known?” asked Doctor Dan.
+
+“Certainly not, since only their bones have been found,” replied
+Charley, “but it must be an air breathing animal or it couldn’t have
+swum round with its head above the water the way you saw it.”
+
+“If that’s the case he must come up every little while,” said Dick.
+
+“I don’t know,” answered Doctor Dan. “We stayed round here two days
+after we saw the thing, but it never showed itself again. I’ve got a
+theory about that, but I don’t suppose you young men care to hear my
+views.”
+
+“Indeed we do,” cried Dick. “Out with it, doctor.”
+
+“Why,” replied the Indian, “my idea is that this lake connects with
+another, which is hidden underground, and that the Plesiosaurus makes
+its home down there and so gets all the air it needs without coming to
+the surface at all.”
+
+“And a very plausible theory it is,” said Dick. “I was thinking----”
+
+Right here Dick was interrupted by a wild cry from Charley.
+
+“Look there! Look there!” he shouted, pointing to the rocks right in
+front of them, which concealed the entrance to another cove.
+
+Dick and Dr. Dan grasped their rifles and started back in terror.
+
+Right in front of them, not ten feet away, a huge, shiny head, long and
+flat, with an enormous mouth filled with horrible teeth and two great,
+glittering eyes set on the sides, projected over the rocks.
+
+“The monster!” shouted Dick, and instantly the head darted forward,
+followed by a long, sinewy neck as big round as a man’s body.
+
+The horrid jaws opened and closed with a vicious snap and a frightful
+bellow rang out among the rocks.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV. CHARLEY IN CLOSE QUARTERS.
+
+
+“Fire!” shouted Charley, and he instantly flung up his rifle and let
+fly at the huge, snake-like head, which was withdrawn instantly.
+
+The bellowing was heard on the other side of the rocks for a moment and
+then all was still.
+
+“What in thunder did you do that for?” Dick burst out. “Don’t you know
+the orders? On no account were we to kill the creature. By thunder,
+if you have killed it I am disgraced forever. I wouldn’t have had it
+happen so for a thousand dollars. How could you be such a fool?”
+
+Poor Charley stood abashed.
+
+It was a terrible thing to him to be so called down by Dick, but he had
+allowed his excitement to make him play the fool and he knew it.
+
+“Dick, excuse me, please,” was all he said, and then he turned and
+walked away.
+
+Dick was too angry for the moment to follow him or call him back. He
+had more to say about it and he spat it right out before Doctor Dan.
+
+“Softly, softly, sir,” replied the half-breed. “Don’t be too hard on
+Mr. Charley. He was excited and acted before he had time to think;
+besides, I don’t think he hit the head or the neck either. Come, we’ll
+see.”
+
+Doctor Dan started to go around the rocks. Dick began to feel a little
+ashamed of his violence.
+
+“Come, Charley,” he shouted. “Come on, old man. Maybe you didn’t hit
+the Plesiosaurus after all.”
+
+But Charley continued to walk in the direction of the camp and never
+even looked back at Dick.
+
+He was a very sensitive fellow and easily offended. Dick knew this and
+felt a good deal troubled.
+
+He wanted to follow Charley up and make it all right with him, but
+then, on the other hand, he did not like to leave Doctor Dan to face
+the danger of meeting the Plesiosaurus alone.
+
+“Come on! Come on!” he shouted again. “Don’t be grumpy, Charley. I’m
+going to see what mischief has been done.”
+
+But as Charley paid no attention to his shout he gave it up for the
+moment and hurried around the rocks into another cove, where Dr. Dan
+stood looking off on the lake.
+
+“I don’t see anything of the monster, Mr. Darrell,” he said. “It must
+have pulled down into the water again.”
+
+“Don’t bother to call me Mr. Darrell. Call me Dick. Here’s where it
+must have been. The water is very deep right up against the shore,
+isn’t it? Of course this is the place.”
+
+Here the space between the rocks and the water was not more than three
+feet in width.
+
+It would have been an easy matter for the monster to have thrown his
+head and neck over the rocks, which were not more than a dozen feet
+high above the water, but there was no trace of the Plesiosaurus to be
+seen now.
+
+“Do you suppose he hit him, Doc?” asked Dick, anxiously.
+
+“No, I don’t,” was the reply. “We should see blood here somewhere if he
+had, and there is none.”
+
+“Anyhow, the shot must have sent the monster down under the water
+again. It’s too bad, too bad.”
+
+“Well, I don’t know,” said Dr. Dan. “It seems to me that it’s about all
+right. You couldn’t have done anything anyway. You’ve seen the thing
+with your own eyes now, Dick. You can’t accuse me of lying any more.”
+
+“I never did,” replied Dick. “It was hard to believe that one of
+these strange creatures had survived, for they belong to the animal
+creation of one of the most distant prehistoric periods, but seeing is
+believing, so no more need be said about it. Question now is what’s to
+be done?”
+
+“Your orders are to take the monster alive if possible?”
+
+“Yes, and to telegraph Professor Poynter at once if I caught a sight of
+it.”
+
+“That’s impossible. We can’t pull up stakes and go back to Node
+Ranch without accomplishing more than we have already. It would be
+ridiculous.”
+
+“It seems so to me. I didn’t give it any thought at the time I received
+my instructions, but I see it now.”
+
+“Probably Professor Poynter gave it no thought, either. What you want
+to do is to hold on here a week or so and try and find out what the
+habits of this creature are. When we know more about it we can come to
+some conclusion as to what we ought to do, which is more than we can
+now.”
+
+“You are right,” said Dick, “and that’s what we will do; but I must get
+back to the camp. It isn’t going to pay us to quarrel. I shall have to
+apologize to Charley for the calling down I gave him.”
+
+“And I’ll keep on around the lake,” replied Doctor Dan. “You and
+Charley can follow me up after you settle your quarrel.”
+
+They separated then and Dick hurried back to the camp, feeling very
+sorry for his explosion and full of anxiety to make matters right with
+his friend.
+
+But when he reached the camp Charley was nowhere visible. Dick looked
+into the tent, and, not finding him there, set up a shout, a private
+cry of their own, which ought to have been answered by a different
+shout. It was just a little signal between the boys agreed upon before
+they started for the Bad Lands.
+
+Much to Dick’s relief, the answer came promptly from around the point
+of rocks beyond the camp.
+
+“Hello, Charley, are you there?” shouted Dick.
+
+“Yes. Come around here, Dick.”
+
+Dick started on the run; as soon as he turned the point of rocks he
+saw, to his surprise, that Charley had pulled off his clothes and was
+swimming around in the lake.
+
+Evidently he had got over his “mad,” for he called out:
+
+“Hey, Dick, this is bully. The water is just splendid. Come on and have
+a swim.”
+
+“Come out of there! Come out at once!” cried Dick. “Good heavens,
+suppose the Plesiosaurus catches you! Charley, you must be crazy to do
+such a thing.”
+
+“Oh, it’s all right,” replied Charley, turning on his back and kicking
+up the water. “I was just dying for a bath and I made up my mind I’d
+have one anyhow. When I get mad I always want to get in the water and
+cool down. That’s me. Come on and try it, Dick.”
+
+Dick was strongly tempted. He stood looking at Charley for a moment and
+then, throwing aside his coat, began to take off his boots.
+
+“I’m sorry I spoke so rough to you, Charley,” he called out. “I won’t
+do it again.”
+
+“Oh, that’s all right. I ought not to have fired, of course, but you
+see I was excited and--oh, thunder! What’s this?”
+
+The water all around Charley suddenly began boiling like a pot.
+
+“Quick! Quick! Strike in for the shore!” yelled Dick.
+
+At the same instant the Plesiosaurus rose to the surface of the lake
+right behind Charley.
+
+First the huge snake-like head was lifted up high in the air, the
+sinuous neck, which seemed to be at least ten feet long, turning and
+twisting horribly.
+
+Then the enormous body came into view, long, rounding and black and
+extending back twenty feet or more from the base of the neck.
+
+“Oh, Dick! Help!” yelled Charley, swimming with all his might for the
+shore.
+
+At the same instant the strange creature craned its neck forward and
+made a quick dart for the boy.
+
+Dick flung up his rifle and fired straight at the monster’s head.
+
+[Illustration: “OH, DICK! HELP!” YELLED CHARLEY, SWIMMING WITH ALL HIS
+MIGHT FOR THE SHORE. AT THE SAME INSTANT THE STRANGE CREATURE CRANED
+ITS NECK FORWARD AND MADE A QUICK DART FOR THE BOY. DICK FLUNG UP HIS
+RIFLE AND FIRED STRAIGHT AT THE MONSTER’S HEAD. Inset: DICK CAPTURED BY
+THE MONSTER.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V. THE DREAM THAT CAME TRUE.
+
+
+It was a frightful moment for Dick, and worse, of course, for poor
+Charley, who barely escaped being caught in the awful jaws of the
+Plesiosaurus.
+
+Dick’s shot saved his friend, however.
+
+Not that the monster was hit--Dick knew that he had made a miss--but
+the report of the rifle seemed to startle it, and, with that same awful
+bellow, it arched its neck like a swan and sank beneath the lake, to be
+seen no more.
+
+Charley came crawling up out of the water half dead with terror.
+
+It was some time before Dick recovered himself.
+
+Charley dressed and they stood side by side discussing the situation
+and watching the lake.
+
+“We are even now, Charley,” said Dick. “We have both broken orders and
+fired at the Plesiosaurus. I suppose if we are going to keep on seeing
+the creature we shall get used to him in time, but, upon my word, he’s
+the strangest looking citizen I ever laid my eyes on, that’s one sure
+thing.”
+
+“A regular nightmare,” said Charley. “Come, let’s look up Doctor Dan.
+He must have heard the firing and is no doubt wondering what it means.”
+
+The guide came running up before they were out of the cove.
+
+“So you have been firing at him again!” he exclaimed. “You are bound to
+kill him it seems.”
+
+“I’m the one this time,” said Dick, and he told the story.
+
+“Well, well! That settles the question!” exclaimed Dr. Dan. “The
+monster is real--it is very much alive--it is ready any time to make a
+meal of one of us. We want to look out.”
+
+“I move we make the circuit of the lake,” said Charley.
+
+“Well, you can’t do it unless we get the boat out,” replied Dr. Dan.
+“I was brought up short by the rocks not a great way beyond the place
+where I left you, Dick. I suggest we stay right where we are and watch.”
+
+The boat was a rubber affair, which Dick did not feel much confidence
+in, and with the recollection of what had just occurred fresh in his
+mind, he did not feel very anxious to venture out upon the lake, so
+the remainder of the day was spent along the shore, but the wary old
+antediluvian monster did not show itself again.
+
+Night came down upon them at last. Doctor Dan cooked another of his
+capital suppers, which the boys enjoyed to the fullest extent, and
+about nine o’clock they rolled themselves up in their blankets and went
+to sleep, Doctor Dan promising to stand guard till midnight.
+
+“If I don’t see anything startling by that time I’ll turn in without
+disturbing you,” he said. “Really, boys, I see no necessity for keeping
+watch here.”
+
+But there was a necessity far greater than Doctor Dan knew, and it
+would have been much wiser to have kept guard until they had studied
+the habits of the Plesiosaurus a bit.
+
+Dick remembered waking up when the half-breed lay down beside him, but
+it was only for a moment. Then he dropped off into a deep sleep again
+and began to dream.
+
+It seemed to him that he had drifted far back in point of time to the
+days when the Bad Lands were in their original position, at the bottom
+of that old prehistoric sea which is known to have covered all this
+part of Wyoming at one time.
+
+It seemed to Dick that he was alone in the rubber boat paddling for all
+he was worth, trying to make the little island which they had seen in
+the lake, and that he was in a big hurry about it, for the reason that
+Miss Clara Eglinton stood upon the shore of the island calling to him
+to come and save her. What she feared was clear enough, too, for there
+right behind her, stealing out of the bushes, was the man Martin Mudd,
+clutching a long, glittering knife in his hand.
+
+So ran the dream and it was most fearfully vivid. Dick thought that he
+shouted to Clara to throw herself into the lake and he would pick her
+up in the boat, for it seemed certain that he could not reach the shore
+in time.
+
+Clara did so and Dick threw all his strength into the paddling and was
+getting along over the water with great rapidity, when all at once the
+surface of the lake began to boil like a pot and the Plesiosaurus rose
+right alongside of the boat, made a dart at him with its awful head and
+as Clara screamed, instead of catching him in its jaws, the creature
+wound its neck about his body and lifted him high in the air.
+
+Dick yelled for all he was worth--actually yelled--awoke to find
+himself yelling and it was no nightmare, either, for something thick
+and slimy was twisted around his body and he was drawn out of the tent,
+still wrapped in his blanket, all like a flash.
+
+It was awful. Above him he could see the head of the monster plainly,
+for it was bright moonlight; he put out his hands and tried to tear
+himself free from that awful thing, which held him captive.
+
+It was wet and slimy; looking down he could see the huge body of the
+Plesiosaurus dragging itself over the ground and then all at once
+Charley and Doctor Dan came running out of the tent shouting.
+
+Charley was empty handed, but the half-breed had his rifle and let fly
+at the monster.
+
+The bullet struck it in the side and glanced off as though it had hit a
+rock.
+
+The next Dick knew the Plesiosaurus slid into the lake and pulled its
+neck down, the water closing over poor Dick as Doctor Dan sent another
+shot flying from the shore.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI. MARTIN MUDD HEARS SOMETHING DROP.
+
+
+Dick gave himself up for lost. The whole thing had struck him so
+suddenly that he had scarcely time to realize what it all meant when he
+was in the lake, half crushed in the sinuous folds of that awful neck.
+
+But a change was close at hand.
+
+Dr. Dan’s second bullet struck the monster on the neck, just below the
+head.
+
+What damage it did it is impossible to say, but it must have caused
+the creature some pain, for it instantly unwound itself from Dick’s
+body, the neck twisting and turning like a boa constrictor’s; all in
+an instant Dick found himself free, for the blanket was unwound by the
+twisting of the Plesiosaurus and Dick, in his shirt and trousers and
+stocking feet, swam away for dear life.
+
+The Plesiosaurus made no attempt to reach out for him apparently, or,
+if it did, Dick knew nothing about it, but he swam on, possessed of the
+horrible fear of feeling those great teeth dug into his legs.
+
+Nothing of the sort happened, but something else did, almost as serious.
+
+Before he knew it Dick found himself suddenly caught in some
+undercurrent which seemed to draw him along with frightful rapidity
+down deeper and deeper into the lake.
+
+Dick was a splendid swimmer--it would have been difficult to find a
+better one in a boy of his age.
+
+He tried to turn aside out of the current to rise to the surface--to do
+anything to escape that awful suction, but it was all no use.
+
+Naturally he gave himself up for lost and he surely would have been if
+relief had not come in a moment, for all at once Dick’s head came up
+out of the water, although he had sunk to a great depth.
+
+But the suction continued and the current ran just as swiftly.
+
+It was pitch dark. Dick could not make out where he was, but the
+rushing of the water seemed to be echoed back from rocks, which were
+close at hand, so he assumed that he must be in some cave.
+
+On he flew--on--on for fully ten minutes. He had thrown himself on his
+back now and was resting comfortably enough, but, try all he would,
+he could not turn out of that terrible current, for he was in the
+subterranean outlet of the lake, one of those underground streams often
+found in the far West.
+
+Dick had read enough about them to realize the situation, and as he
+knew perfectly well that many of these underground streams never come
+to the surface, the prospect was anything but encouraging.
+
+All at once the strength of the current seemed to slacken--a little
+further on it grew less still until at last there was scarcely any
+movement at all and just then, to his great joy, Dick caught sight of a
+patch of moonlight striking across the water on ahead, which showed him
+the black, dripping walls of the cave.
+
+“There’s an opening there,” he thought. “I’m saved if I can only get
+through it. I must. If it isn’t big enough to let me through I shall
+give up in despair.”
+
+His heart almost stood still as he thought of this new danger, but he
+swam on and in a moment was crawling through a narrow opening, which
+brought him out upon a ledge of rock under some towering cliffs, where
+he sank down too much exhausted to hold his head up, and lay so for
+several moments, when all at once he was aroused by hearing a voice
+below him say:
+
+“They are coming! I can see them. It’s just Bill and the girl.”
+
+“Ah, but I can’t see nothing--hold on! I’m lying. I do see them. Yes,
+it’s just Bill and the girl, as sure as fate, Mr. Mudd.”
+
+The pronouncing of the name put Dick on the alert instantly.
+
+The two men, whoever they might be, seemed to be just below the ledge
+upon which he was resting.
+
+He crawled to the edge and looked down.
+
+Now, for the first time, he perceived his true situation.
+
+He had come out on the side of the mountain. Far below him lay the sand
+hills, bathed in moonlight, extending off in the distance as far as he
+could see, while directly at his feet ran a narrow trail, which seemed
+to go winding higher up the mountain, passing under the shelf.
+
+Away down the trail he could see two figures mounted upon horses making
+their way up the mountainside, but he could not, from his position,
+make out just where the two men were standing, although he could hear
+their voices plain enough.
+
+Was it really the man Martin Mudd?
+
+It seemed so strange that he should have dreamed about him and that his
+dream should come out partially true like this.
+
+Dick craned his neck over the rock as far as he dared, catching sight
+of the men at last as they stood there leaning against the wall
+directly underneath the overhanging ledge.
+
+It was Martin Mudd, sure enough. The moon shone directly upon him, and,
+although the glance was a brief one, Dick could see him plainly.
+
+He pulled back quick and crouched upon the rock, listening, for Mudd
+had begun to talk again.
+
+“Yes, Tony,” he was saying, “this is a case of revenge upon the old man
+in part and a case of true love for the other part. You may think me
+looney, but I actually have fallen in love with Clara Eglinton and I am
+determined to make her my wife.”
+
+“Ha! Ha! Ha!” laughed the concealed Tony. “Your wife! Why, she might as
+well be the wife of a coyote. Ho! Ho! Ho!”
+
+“What do you mean, you pigeon-breasted tenderfoot!” cried Mudd. “I’d
+have you to understand I am about to come into a fortune. As soon as I
+put a knife into Dick Darrell’s heart I collect $10,000. Put that in
+your pipe and smoke it. Call me a coyote, indeed.”
+
+Dick was lost in amazement. For the life of him he couldn’t imagine
+what it all meant.
+
+“Who in the world wants me out of the way?” he thought again and again,
+as he listened to still further conversation about mines and mining,
+which did not interest him at all.
+
+All this time the two figures on the horses were coming steadily on up
+the trail.
+
+Mudd was evidently watching through a night glass, for once he made a
+remark about its being misty. At last he suddenly exclaimed:
+
+“Here they are. Lay low, Tony. You jump in and pretend to seize Bill.
+I’ll take care of the girl.”
+
+Dick stood up, clutching a heavy stone in each hand.
+
+“Halt, there!” shouted Tony, suddenly springing out of his concealment
+as the forward horse came around the turn in the rocks.
+
+“Miss Clara, your most obedient,” said Martin Mudd, also stepping out
+into view. “Sorry to detain you on your way to join your father at the
+mine, but I have a little business to transact with you.”
+
+The girl screamed.
+
+Bill pretended to resist and did some threatening, but yielded to Tony
+without a struggle just the same.
+
+“Get off the horse,” cried Mudd. “Now, then, no nonsense, my dear; you
+are in my power. Unless something drops I----”
+
+“Here it is,” cried a voice above them, and Dick Darrell jumped down
+from the shelf above still clutching the stones in his hands.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII. CAPTURED BY MUDD.
+
+
+“Great guns! The Darrell boy!” gasped Martin Mudd, as Dick boldly faced
+the three men.
+
+“Help! Oh, save me from this fellow!” screamed Clara.
+
+Dick threw up his right hand and let one of the stones fly.
+
+That was the time Martin Mudd came near seeing his finish.
+
+If he had not dodged the stone he would have got it alongside the head.
+
+Dick followed up with the other stone, but that was a miss also and
+before he could show any further fight Tony and Bill Struthers rushed
+upon him.
+
+The case looked desperate then.
+
+Clara Eglinton, terribly frightened, urged her horse on up the hill.
+
+“Don’t kill him! Hold him till I come back, Tony!” shouted Mudd,
+starting up the trail after the horse.
+
+“Yes, hold me if you can get me!” cried Dick, whipping out his
+revolver. “Now, then, slope, you scoundrels! Slope or I’ll make short
+work of you both.”
+
+The men dodged back.
+
+Bill Struthers vaulted upon his horse and clashed away up the trail.
+
+“Cowards!” snarled Tony, throwing up his hands. “I surrender, young
+feller. They have both deserted me. I’m not going to do this act
+alone.”
+
+“Throw down your gun, then, and your knife, too, if you have one,”
+retorted Dick. “I don’t trust your kind.”
+
+Tony flung a revolver at Dick’s feet.
+
+“Now the knife.”
+
+“Hain’t got one.”
+
+“I know better. Throw it down or I’ll make a finish of you--do you
+hear?”
+
+Tony pulled out a long knife and flung it upon the ground by the
+revolver.
+
+Then, as Dick stooped to pick them up he improved the opportunity to
+take to his heels and run like a deer up the trail.
+
+“By gracious, they are a sweet lot of cowards!” exclaimed Dick. “Never
+saw their equal. What in the world shall I do about that girl, though?
+Strange that I should meet her again away out here. I can’t imagine
+what it means.”
+
+He was hurrying along up the trail as these thoughts flashed over him,
+for he had no notion of deserting Clara Eglinton, in spite of the fact
+that she had deserted him.
+
+There was evidently trouble ahead for himself, too, unless he could
+keep out of the way of the man Mudd.
+
+More puzzled than ever to know what it all meant, Dick made the best
+time he could up the trail, but his wet clothes seemed to hold him back
+and it seemed to him that he had never run so slow as he was running
+now.
+
+For a few moments he could hear the clatter of the horses’ hoofs upon
+the stony trail and once he heard Mudd give a shout.
+
+Then, after a few moments of silence, other horses were heard--there
+seemed to be several of them. Then the sounds suddenly died away and
+all was still.
+
+Dick followed on, a good deal perplexed.
+
+He had no idea where the trail was going to lead him, but he knew
+enough about the Bad Lands to be quite well aware that to be lost in
+them meant simply death.
+
+Even the Indians avoid these dreary wastes. For a hundred miles east
+and twice as much west Doctor Dan had told him that there was not a
+ranch or a house of any kind and it was just as bad if he went north,
+as he seemed to be going now.
+
+“If it wasn’t for Miss Eglinton I would go straight down the mountain
+and try to get back to camp by the trail we followed,” thought Dick,
+“yet I can’t run away and leave the poor girl in the hands of those
+scoundrels. What in the world shall I do, anyhow? I’m blest if I know.”
+
+He pushed on for a short distance further, passing into a dark canyon
+where the cliffs towered on either side of him.
+
+There was nothing to be seen or heard of the horses here, either. They
+seemed to have utterly vanished. With many windings the canyon led off
+up the mountain; it was broken by cross canyons, dark, narrow passages
+opening off every few yards.
+
+Dick soon saw that the case was absolutely hopeless, for the horses
+might have taken to any of these canyons.
+
+He came to the conclusion that Martin Mudd and Tony must have had
+horses concealed near by and had mounted them when they started away
+from the scene of the fight.
+
+“This won’t do,” exclaimed Dick, stopping short at last. “I must go
+back. I must go straight down to the foot of the mountain and try to
+get back to camp and rely upon Doctor Dan to help me find that girl.”
+
+This was a wise resolve, no doubt, but Dick soon found that it was one
+thing to come to it and quite another to carry it out.
+
+He calculated that he was about three hundred yards away from the
+entrance of the canyon and he expected to spend five or ten minutes
+getting back, but, after he had walked twenty, he still found himself
+between those towering walls of rock, the dark canyon still winding on.
+
+Dick stopped again, a horrible fear coming over him.
+
+“I’m lost already. That’s what’s the matter,” he muttered. “What in the
+world am I to do?”
+
+And, indeed, the situation was anything but pleasant.
+
+The little moonlight which found its way down into the canyon did no
+more than to enable Dick to keep from stumbling.
+
+The entrances to all the cross canyons looked alike. It was the easiest
+thing in the world to mistake one for the other and Dick knew that this
+was just what he must have done.
+
+He hurriedly retraced his steps, trying to determine which of the many
+openings was the correct one and at last settled upon one a little
+wider than the rest and undertook to follow that.
+
+He was doomed to disappointment, however, for after going a short
+distance down on the down grade the trail through the canyon suddenly
+began to ascend, growing steeper and steeper every moment, but Dick
+continued to follow it, for he could see more light ahead and a cold
+damp wind came rushing down the canyon and both of these signs made him
+fancy that he must be pretty close to the lake.
+
+“If I can only strike it I don’t want anything better,” he thought;
+“then all I’ve got to do is to follow the shore around till I come to
+the camp.”
+
+He had not far to go before he knew that he was right, for suddenly he
+passed out of the canyon and came upon the shore of the lake.
+
+Within a few rods of the end of the canyon stood an old, ruinous log
+hut, in the window of which a light burned.
+
+There were four horses hobbled near-by cropping the grass which grew
+over a level stretch that extended back toward the rocks, being the
+only trace of any green thing which Dick had seen since he entered the
+Bad Lands.
+
+“That’s where they are,” he muttered. “I’ve run them down at last.”
+
+He hesitated a moment and then started to walk over to the hut.
+
+“I’m bound to help that girl if I can,” thought Dick. “Those fellows
+are such a lot of cowards that----”
+
+Suddenly two hands were clapped upon his shoulders from behind and Dick
+found himself whirled violently around to face Martin Mudd.
+
+“That’s the talk. Glad you came around,” chuckled the man. “It’s
+dollars in my pocket to do you up, Dick Darrell, and don’t you forget
+it you are going to be done.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII. A NEW ARRIVAL FROM THE LAKE.
+
+
+If Dick had been fool enough to show fight then there is no doubt that
+he would have been killed outright, for the man Mudd got him by the
+throat with his left hand and at the same time tried his old game of
+whipping out a knife and holding it over Dick’s heart.
+
+“Hold on!” cried Dick. “Hold on, there, Mr. Mudd. Aren’t you making a
+mistake?”
+
+Dick spoke with amazing calmness considering the circumstances.
+
+No one to have heard him would have dreamed of the excitement he was
+laboring under just then.
+
+“No mistake at all,” laughed Mudd. “Mebbe you think I am mad?”
+
+“You act that way. I don’t know you and you can’t possibly know me. I’m
+only a poor assistant in the National Museum. If you are working for
+money I don’t see where you expect to gain anything by sticking that
+knife into me.”
+
+This remark and the coolness with which it was uttered undoubtedly
+saved Dick’s life.
+
+Martin Mudd immediately changed his tune.
+
+“Say,” he exclaimed, “you give me an idea, young feller. I am working
+for money every time and the man who bids the highest for my services
+is the man who gets them--mebbe you’d like to bid.”
+
+“I’ll make a bid for my life, you bet,” said Dick. “Suppose you explain
+the situation. I’ll be blest if I understand it at all.”
+
+“That’s business,” replied Mr. Mudd, looking over at the hut; “just
+drop that gun of yours while I hold you as you are. Don’t try to use it
+on me now, boy, for if you do by the piper who played before Moses I’ll
+bury this knife in your heart.”
+
+Dick threw the revolver down on the ground. There was no chance to use
+it with that terrible grip on his throat.
+
+“That’s right,” said Mudd, kicking the revolver off to some distance.
+“Now we can talk. Promise me that you won’t make a move and I’ll let go
+your throat.”
+
+“I promise,” said Dick. “There’s no sense in our quarreling. We don’t
+know each other. What I want to find out is what all this is about.”
+
+Martin Mudd let go and leaned back against the rocks, indulging in a
+hearty laugh.
+
+“Of course we don’t know each other--that’s got nothing to do with it,”
+he said. “Now, look here, young Darrell, suppose I could put you in the
+way of picking up a big fortune--say a million and over. What about
+that?”
+
+“Honestly?” asked Dick.
+
+“Yes, honestly. Oh, I’m not joking. I’m in dead earnest. How much will
+you give?”
+
+“I’ll give you a hundred thousand dollars the day I come into the
+money,” replied Dick, but when he said it he had not the faintest
+notion that Martin Mudd’s singular words were anything more than a
+bluff.
+
+“Humph! Well, that’s business, but perhaps you’ll make it more.”
+
+“A hundred thousand dollars is a good lump of money,” said Dick. “You
+were going to explain about this. Do it, and----”
+
+“Not now. You are the highest bidder by a lot. Will you sign a paper to
+that effect?”
+
+“Certainly I will if you will let me read it before I sign.”
+
+“You shall draw it up yourself.”
+
+“That’s satisfactory. Now what?”
+
+“Where’s your camp? You were coming up here monster hunting. I know.
+Thought you would find that big prehistoric monster Ike Izard claimed
+to have seen. Ha! Ha! What fools your scientists are.”
+
+“Not quite so big fools as you may think,” replied Dick. “I’ve seen
+that same monster all right.”
+
+“Rats! Rubbish! Come on to the hut. We’ll talk this thing over.
+I--merciful mother of Moses! Look there!”
+
+Suddenly the water of Izard Lake, close to where they stood, began to
+boil in the same old fashion, and all at once a huge head, shaped like
+a crocodile’s, was thrust out.
+
+It was not the Plesiosaurus at all, but a monster of an entirely
+different sort.
+
+Its vast body was covered with great scales, its huge eyes seemed to
+reflect back the moonlight. It opened its cavernous mouth fully a yard
+long and uttered a hissing roar which seemed to shake the very earth as
+it made a rush shoreward, directly for the place where Dick and Martin
+Mudd stood.
+
+The effect was to break up Dick’s little session with that eccentric
+individual on the instant, for Mudd gave a wild yell of terror, took to
+his heels and ran toward the hut, leaving Dick to shift for himself.
+
+But Dick was not running away.
+
+He was altogether too much interested in this wonderful monster.
+
+Without an instant’s hesitation he scrambled up on the rocks behind
+him, stopping and looking back when he had gained a flat ledge about
+ten feet up from the ground.
+
+Undoubtedly he then witnessed a sight which no other man had ever seen
+before, unless it might be some Indian wandering through this part of
+the Bad Lands.
+
+Without paying the least attention to Dick the monster came up out of
+the water entirely and went waddling along the shore on four little
+stumpy legs, dragging behind it a thick, scaly tail fully thirty feet
+in length and taking his course toward the hut.
+
+Martin Mudd looked back and saw it coming. The hut door flew open and
+Bill Struthers and the man Tony came rushing out.
+
+“Gee whiz! What’s that? Have I got ’em again?” Tony yelled and he made
+a bee line for the horses.
+
+“Not without me. I don’t stay here none now,” shouted Struthers,
+following him.
+
+“Hold on. Hold on, you fools. Get your guns and shoot the critter.
+Don’t go off and leave me so,” Martin Mudd called out at the top of his
+lungs.
+
+But his companions paid no attention to him.
+
+Cutting the hobbles, they flung themselves on their horses and went
+dashing up the lake shore.
+
+Mudd paused for a moment, looked back and hesitated.
+
+At the same instant the lake monster treated him to another taste of
+that tremendous hissing roar, alongside of which the bellow of the
+Plesiosaurus was sweet music.
+
+It was too much for Mr. Mudd. He went bounding toward the remaining
+horses, which stood half paralyzed with fear.
+
+In a moment he was astride one of them and dashing away after the
+others, while the monster, without altering its course, kept steadily
+on toward the hut.
+
+“Great Scott! What’s going to become of Clara Eglinton?” thought Dick.
+“Is she tied up in there a prisoner all alone?”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX. WHAT MONSTER IS COMING NOW?
+
+
+No such thought as fear, no idea of holding back, ever entered Dick
+Darrell’s head.
+
+He scrambled down off the rocks and ran at full speed over the grass,
+giving that moving nightmare a wide berth and by a semi-circular course
+making for the hut.
+
+The monster moved very slowly, seeming to have but slight powers of
+locomotion on land, although Dick never doubted that in the water it
+would show itself lively enough.
+
+“If it was to rise up on that tail and fall on the hut it would crush
+it to splinters,” thought Dick, “but I don’t believe it has any such
+idea.”
+
+He had almost reached the hut now. There was no back door, as he had
+expected to see, so he started to run around in front.
+
+He had almost gained the door when, to his astonishment, he suddenly
+heard his name shouted from off on the lake.
+
+“Dick! Dick!”
+
+Dick turned and faced the monster, and, looking over and beyond him,
+saw Charley paddling the rubber canoe for all he was worth.
+
+“Hello, Dick! What in thunder are you doing there?” yelled Charley.
+“Look on the shore! Don’t you see?”
+
+Bang! Bang!
+
+At the same instant two rifle shots rang out in quick succession and
+Dick saw Doctor Dan running along the shore toward the monster.
+
+He fired again as Dick caught sight of him. The bullet struck the
+monster’s tail, but glanced off as though it had come against an iron
+wall.
+
+The shots, however, had their effect, for the report of the gun seemed
+to startle the huge creature.
+
+It stopped, turned its head and looked back, and, with another roar,
+waddled to the water and slipped in with a tremendous splash, the
+commotion nearly swamping the rubber canoe, which Charley drove up on
+the beach heedless of any ill effect the sharp stones might have on the
+bottom.
+
+An instant later and it was all over.
+
+The monster had disappeared and Dick, Doctor Dan and Charley Nicholson
+stood together on the shore.
+
+We pass over the explanations which naturally followed.
+
+Charley was fairly wild with joy at the meeting.
+
+“I gave you up for dead, sure,” he said, “but Doctor Dan wouldn’t have
+it. It was he who insisted upon getting the canoe out and coming to
+look for you. What sort of a creature was it, Dick? I thought I must
+have gone mad when I first saw it crawling up on the shore.”
+
+But Dick was in no mood to talk science then.
+
+He hastily explained about Clara and they hurried toward the hut, fully
+expecting to find her a prisoner inside.
+
+To their astonishment the hut proved to be unoccupied.
+
+There could be no mistake about it, either, for the interior consisted
+of but a single room.
+
+There were several bunks against the wall and on a table in the middle
+of the room was a whisky bottle and three glasses, but there was
+absolutely nothing to show that Clara had ever been there.
+
+“Well, where’s your girl, Dick?” asked Charley, staring around.
+
+“Strange. That horse out there is certainly the one she rode,” replied
+Dick, and the horrible fear seized him that Martin Mudd might have made
+way with Clara on the road up to the lake.
+
+They searched in all directions, shouting Miss Eglinton’s name, but all
+to no purpose.
+
+Then they returned to the hut and began discussing the new monster, as
+a matter of course.
+
+“In some respects it resembles the Ichthyosaurus,” said Dick, “but
+still its short legs don’t fill the bill at all in that direction. It
+is probably entirely unknown to science.”
+
+“And immensely valuable if it could only be taken alive,” said Dr. Dan.
+
+“I wish I had either one of those monsters in a tank in New York or
+Chicago and could charge ten cents a head to show them,” cried Charley.
+“I shouldn’t want any better fortune than that.”
+
+“They can never be taken alive,” said Dick, decidedly. “It is the
+merest nonsense to think of such a thing. This is a wonderful place,
+though, Doc. If the National Museum will only take possession of this
+lake there may be money in these discoveries for some of us yet.”
+
+“Do you think they will?” asked Doctor Dan.
+
+“I’m sure of it. The land must belong to the government as it is.”
+
+“It undoubtedly does,” replied the guide. “Well, there may be something
+in it for Ike Izard and myself, after all. Now, then, what are we going
+to do?”
+
+“I don’t leave here till I know what has become of Miss Eglinton,” said
+Dick, decidedly.
+
+“Let me see,” said Dr. Dan. “I know that name. She must be the daughter
+of Colonel Eglinton, who owns a big gold mine back here in the
+mountains over toward the Black Hills.”
+
+“No doubt of it, from what I heard that fellow Mudd say,” replied Dick.
+“But let’s think what we had better do.”
+
+Doctor Dan gave one of his short laughs. “If you want to find her I can
+tell you how,” he said.
+
+“Tell it, then, for gracious sake!” cried Charley.
+
+“Mount that horse, turn his head toward the canyon and give him free
+rein. I’ll bet you what you like he’ll take you straight to the place
+where they halted. If you knew these mustangs of ours as well as I do
+you would say the same thing.”
+
+“It’s a splendid idea and we’ll try it right now!” cried Dick. “Shall
+we pack the canoe on behind the saddle?”
+
+“I think we had better. It may hold three but it will never hold four
+in case we find the girl. I can work my way back to camp through the
+canyons all right, don’t you be afraid of that.”
+
+Doctor Dan then caught the horse, which Dick mounted, after the canoe
+had been folded up and placed behind the saddle.
+
+He then started, Charley and Doctor Dan following behind.
+
+Dick threw the bridle down on the horse’s neck and the sure-footed
+little mustang walked straight toward the entrance of the canyon, but
+instead of turning into it, kept on under the cliffs.
+
+“Hello! It seems they didn’t come the way you thought they did after
+all!” exclaimed Doctor Dan; “probably there is another canyon just
+beyond here and----”
+
+“Gee! There it comes again!” broke out Charley, pointing off on the
+lake.
+
+The water had begun a furious commotion close to the shore.
+
+Dick stopped the horse and all remained staring at it for a minute or
+more, but as yet nothing appeared.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X. EXPLORING AROUND THE LAKE.
+
+
+If Dick and Doctor Dan expected to see a new monster come up out of the
+lake that was the time they got left.
+
+Charley said from the first that nothing was coming and he was right.
+
+“It’s not old P. D.,” he declared; “that isn’t the way he boils the
+pot.”
+
+Doctor Dan looked a bit puzzled.
+
+“Might I inquire,” he asked in his stately way, “what you mean by old
+P. D.?”
+
+“Why, certainly,” replied Charley. “Life is altogether too short to say
+Plesiosaurus Dolichodeirus every time and even Plesiosaurus without the
+doli-what’s-its-name takes too long, so from this time on I shall speak
+of our rubber-necked friend as old P. D.”
+
+“Exactly,” said Doctor Dan. “Now that I know I shall remember. I am not
+familiar with the scientific names of these monsters. I expect to see
+something. Watch! It will come. On this very spot Ike Izard and I saw
+the water boil like this.”
+
+“And nothing came of it?” asked Charley.
+
+“Nothing then. The monster did not rise.”
+
+“No, nor no monster will rise this time,” said Charley, emphatically.
+“You’ll see.”
+
+“I think I know what you are driving at,” said Dick. “You are thinking
+of the underground lake we talked about.”
+
+Charley nodded.
+
+Doctor Dan looked puzzled, not understanding what that had to do with
+the boiling of the water which still continued.
+
+They watched the troubled surface of the lake for several minutes.
+
+The boiling grew less and less until finally it ceased altogether,
+nothing having appeared.
+
+“There you are,” said Charley, triumphantly. “Just as I said.”
+
+“Your idea is, I suppose,” said Dick, “that the water is running off
+into the underground lake?”
+
+“My idea is,” said Charley, “that under the mountain on the left here
+is a big cavern at a lower level than this lake and that between it and
+the lake is a deep hole. When the hole is full of water it discharges
+into the cavern gradually by a small outlet, when it gets down to a
+certain level the water of Izard Lake runs down into the hole until the
+equilibrium is restored.”
+
+“Right,” said Dick. “Just what I think, exactly.”
+
+“It’s too deep for me,” said Doctor Dan, shaking his head.
+
+“What, the theory or the hole?” laughed Dick.
+
+“Both. I should have to see the hole before I believed in it and I
+don’t understand the theory of all.”
+
+“If we could only stay here and watch we would find that the boiling
+takes place at regular intervals and continues just so long,” added
+Charley. “We can investigate this later on if you say so, Dick.”
+
+“By all means,” replied Dick, “but now we must be on the move. I shall
+never rest until I have found Clara Eglinton and I only hope Doctor
+Dan’s theory proves correct.”
+
+“About the horse?” replied Doctor Dan. “You will find it entirely
+correct. If I am not up on science I am on horses. Give that mare her
+head and she will take us to the place where they turned off with the
+lady sure; that is, if there is any such place. As I understand the
+situation, you are not actually sure that Mudd captured her at all.”
+
+“Well, I have only his word for it,” said Dick, “and that don’t amount
+to much, I own.”
+
+They now moved on. The mare led the way into the pass through which
+Dick had come, continuing along about half the distance to the trail up
+the mountain, when she suddenly turned and stopped short up against the
+solid ledge.
+
+“Well!” exclaimed Doctor Dan, “this is queer!”
+
+The place into which the mare had turned was a sort of niche in the
+rocky wall, crescent shaped and perhaps forty feet deep.
+
+There was no break anywhere and the rocks towered to a height of
+several hundred feet above their heads.
+
+“What’s the matter with the beast? What does she stop here for?”
+demanded Dick.
+
+But Doctor Dan could give no satisfactory answer to this question.
+
+He dismounted and made a long and careful examination of the place
+without discovering anything to explain the conduct of the mare.
+
+“It beats me,” he said at last, “but one thing is certain there is no
+way through that ledge.”
+
+“Perhaps they just halted here for some purpose or other,” said Dick.
+“I think we had better push on. The mare may give us another steer.”
+
+But the mare did nothing of the sort. They continued on to the trail
+and then down the mountain to the alkali plains.
+
+Doctor Dan’s knowledge of the country came in play here, for he
+recognized the place and led the way to their old trail up the
+mountain, which began about half a mile further along.
+
+It seemed useless to spend any more time then looking for Clara
+Eglinton, so they continued on to the camp, where Doctor Dan cooked a
+splendid breakfast, having shot an antelope just before they turned off
+from the plain.
+
+The remainder of the day passed without any notable adventure.
+
+In the afternoon the rubber boat was launched again and Dick and
+Charley pulled across the lake to the hut, leaving Doctor Dan to go on
+an exploring expedition along the shore on his own account.
+
+The hut was still deserted and there was no sign that Mudd and his
+companions had returned.
+
+The boys on the way back pulled around to the place where the singular
+boiling of the water had occurred.
+
+All was placid enough now, but just as they were turning away the
+boiling began again.
+
+The boys watched it until it ceased, the time being exactly ten minutes.
+
+After it was over they waited around for half an hour more, but the
+phenomenon was not repeated.
+
+“We must come over and spend the day here soon,” declared Dick. “My
+theory is that if an underground lake really exists that is where old
+P. D. and the other monster have their holdout and we must contrive
+some way to get down into it. Maybe the underground passage I went
+through connects with your cavern, Charley. What do you say to
+following it up and trying to find out?”
+
+“That’s the idea, exactly,” said Charley. “We know from your discovery
+that there is a small underground lake, so what’s to hinder there being
+a big one? We’ll take that in to-morrow and the event will prove that I
+am right.”
+
+On the way back to camp Charley thought that he caught sight of the
+head of old P. D. lifted for a single instant above the water, but Dick
+did not see it and Charley could not feel quite sure.
+
+When they got back to camp they found that Doctor Dan had already
+returned and had supper ready.
+
+“I’ve got great news to tell you, boys,” he exclaimed. “I’ve seen old
+P. D. again and this time on the land. What do you say to that?”
+
+“Hooray!” cried Dick. “Here’s another discovery of the habits of old P.
+D. It gives me hope that we may succeed in capturing him yet.”
+
+“There’s a chance for us,” said Doctor Dan, “and I can show you just
+how it can be done if you will follow me around the lake shore to a
+place where I was to-day.”
+
+He had scarcely made the remark when the same old bellow was heard off
+on the lake.
+
+All hands ran down to the shore and looked off upon the water, but not
+a thing could they see of old P. D.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI. THE LETTER ON THE TABLE.
+
+
+“He’s around here somewhere,” said Dick. “There’s no mistaking that
+melodious voice, but where?”
+
+Suddenly another strange sound broke upon the air; half scream, half
+roar, and then a tremendous splash was heard over in the direction of
+the next cove.
+
+The boys and Doctor Dan, seizing their rifles, ran that way, but before
+they got to the bend of the rocks they were able to see what was going
+on.
+
+It was such a combat as probably no man on earth ever witnessed before.
+
+There was old P. D. and a monster precisely similar to the one the boys
+had seen on the other side of the lake hard at it, and a bellowing and
+roaring broke upon the air that was fairly deafening.
+
+The Plesiosaurus would rear its ugly head far above the water and
+strike with lightning rapidity at its antagonist, which would dodge and
+then dart forward, squirting up two vast streams of water out of holes
+in each side of its huge snout, snapping its crocodile-like jaws and
+displaying its terrible teeth.
+
+For about twenty seconds the boys were treated to this wonderful
+exhibition and then, with a fearful splash, monster No. 2 leaped half
+its length out of the water, caught old P. D. by the neck and dragged
+him down out of sight.
+
+“By gracious!” cried Charley. “That’s great!”
+
+“Tremendous!” echoed Dick. “Who on earth ever saw the like?”
+
+“I’ll bet on old P. D. every time,” chuckled Doctor Dan, relaxing his
+gravity for once and indulging in a hearty laugh. “It don’t seem to
+strike you as comical as it does me, boys. It’s one of the funniest
+things I ever saw.”
+
+Dick failed to see where the laugh came in, but he said nothing and for
+some time they stood watching for the reappearance of the monsters, but
+the moments passed and they did not come to the surface again.
+
+“There must be more than one Plesiosaurus,” remarked Dick, as they
+sat at supper; “by the way, Doctor, you were going to tell us of your
+discovery and how we could capture old P. D.”
+
+“Why, there is a cove around on the western shore that has a very
+narrow entrance,” replied Doctor Dan. “There are great stones scattered
+all around there and there is one that I am sure would choke up the
+entrance if it was dropped between the ledges. Now if we could rig up
+some sort of a snare in the cove with the ropes we have brought and
+then pry the boulder over into the break and choke it up we would have
+our friend P. D. hard and fast.”
+
+“Always providing he is obliging enough to go into the cove and run
+into our snare,” said Dick. “Well, we will take a look at it in the
+morning and see what we can make out of it. I’m dead tired now and I’m
+going to turn in.”
+
+The tents had been moved further up the bank and as Doctor Dan had
+agreed to watch until morning Dick and Charley now wrapped themselves
+up in their blankets and put in a good night undisturbed.
+
+Doctor Dan had no news to report in the morning and after breakfast
+he went up on the ledges, wrapped himself in his blankets and went to
+sleep there, telling the boys that they need not trouble their heads
+about him, but just do whatever they pleased.
+
+“Let’s try the underground passage, Dick,” said Charley. “I’m wild to
+know if my theory is correct.”
+
+“If I knew where we could dive and strike it I’d say yes in a minute,”
+replied Dick, “but I could never locate the place and I don’t care
+about running the horses around to the other trail without Doctor Dan.”
+
+“I suppose that means we are to go across the lake again and see what
+we can find of the girl?”
+
+“That’s what we ought to do.”
+
+“Then by all means let’s do it. Duty first and pleasure afterward. How
+long do you intend to stop up here, anyhow?”
+
+“Oh, a day or two. If we fail entirely I think I shall try to persuade
+Doctor Dan to take me on to Mr. Eglinton’s mine and see if Clara is
+safe there.”
+
+“That means time lost. How about telegraphing Professor Poynter?”
+
+“We can do that from the mine just as well as from Node Ranch. No doubt
+there is a line through to there.”
+
+“The girl is a nuisance,” declared Charley. “I really believe you are
+ready to fall in love with her, Dick.”
+
+“I’m ready to help her if she needs help and to save her from that
+scoundrel Mudd,” declared Dick, “but don’t let’s do any more talking
+until we have made a start.”
+
+The boat was soon stretched and the seats placed and the boys then
+carried it down to the lake and got in.
+
+It was not a pleasant craft to navigate, but Charley had become quite
+skillful with the paddle and they were soon making good headway across
+the lake.
+
+“If we happen to run into old P. D. or his enemy there’s going to be
+an interesting time of it,” observed Dick. “You don’t say a word about
+that, Charley, but I know you are thinking about it all the same.”
+
+“And why not?” replied Charley. “Of course I’m thinking about it, but
+what’s the use talking? We have just got to take our chances. When I’m
+out on an expedition like this I don’t believe in showing the white
+feather. It isn’t my style nor yours, either, Dick.”
+
+“If it was mine you bet I wouldn’t be here,” said Dick, “but the danger
+is real just the same.”
+
+Charley paddled on until at last they reached the other side of the
+lake and pulled up their boat on the shore close to the hut.
+
+It still wore the same air of desertion. Dick had left the door partly
+open and had placed a small pebble on top of it in such a manner that
+if the door was touched the stone would be sure to fall.
+
+He seized hold of the door and pulled it open, but no pebble fell.
+
+“There’s been some one here!” he exclaimed. “Look, Charley, the floor
+is all tracked over with alkali since we were here.”
+
+“That’s what, Dick. If it was mud, now, we might guess it was your
+friend.”
+
+“Ten to one it was Mudd,” replied Dick. “Hello, what’s this?”
+
+In the middle of the long table which occupied the centre of the room
+lay a paper upon which some words were written, fastened to the table
+by a rusty old bowie knife which had been driven deep into the wood.
+
+“That’s yours, Dick,” cried Charley. “Don’t you see what it says?”
+
+“For you, Dick Darrell,” were the words scrawled over the paper in
+letters at least six inches long.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII. INTO THE BOILING POT.
+
+
+“That’s Mudd’s work, sure,” exclaimed Dick, and he pulled out the knife
+and picked the paper up, turning it over and finding the following
+written on the other side:
+
+ “Friends or enemies--which?--I swore to kill you. On certain
+ conditions I am willing to let you live--$100,000--you understand--but
+ we can’t get together by keeping apart. Shall I come to you or will
+ you come to me? I shall be in this hut at midnight and alone and you
+ must come alone if you want to meet me. It will pay you, Dick Darrell,
+ and you need fear nothing. If you do not come I shall take it to
+ mean that I shall come to you. It will be too late to talk about the
+ $100,000 then, for when I come I come to kill. Yours any way you like
+ to take me, MUDD.”
+
+“Well!” exclaimed Charley, for Dick had been reading aloud, “that’s a
+most remarkable communication. What on earth does it all mean?”
+
+“Rubbish!” cried Dick. “He must think I am a born idiot. Still it shows
+the fellow is watching us.”
+
+“I don’t know about that. There may be more in it than you think for.
+Are you going to do as he says?”
+
+“Well, I think I see myself,” laughed Dick. “If he wants to come to me
+let him try it. I’m ready for him.”
+
+“I wouldn’t do it that way. I’d come to the hut and let me and Doctor
+Dan hang around somewhere. If we could once capture Mr. Martin Mudd his
+name would be mud for fair and we could find out then exactly what has
+become of the girl.”
+
+“Well, I’ll think it over,” said Dick. “Come on now and let’s have a
+look at the boiling pot.”
+
+This was the name the boys had given to the point on the lake which so
+interested Charley and they now went back into the boat and paddled
+along the shore until they came to the place.
+
+The water was now as calm here as elsewhere and showed no signs of
+disturbance.
+
+After pulling around a few moments Dick paddled ashore, declaring that
+he was going to look up the footprints of the monster and measure them.
+
+“You don’t need any help, I suppose,” said Charley. “I’ll stay out
+here. I want to watch the pot.”
+
+“They say a watched pot never boils,” laughed Dick, “but I’ve no
+objections to you trying to prove it. Of course I don’t need any help.
+It won’t take me five minutes, anyhow.”
+
+So Dick hurried along the shore, while Charley paddled out on the lake
+again. There was no difficulty in finding the impress of the monster’s
+huge feet in the sand and Dick got out his rule and was in the act
+of measuring them when all at once a shout from Charley called his
+attention to the lake.
+
+“She boils, Dick! She boils!” cried Charley.
+
+“Look out!” shouted Dick, running down to the shore. “Don’t go too
+near. There may be some suction there.”
+
+“By Jove, there is a big suction,” answered Charley, “and what’s more
+I’m right in it now.”
+
+He commenced to paddle furiously and perhaps he thought he was making
+some headway, but Dick saw that he was not.
+
+“Jump out, Charley!” he shouted. “Jump and save yourself.”
+
+“I can do it! I can do it!” Charley replied, working the paddle more
+vigorously than ever.
+
+Meanwhile the water was boiling furiously--more than it had done at any
+time yet.
+
+Dick was terribly alarmed. He was standing now on a point of rocks
+directly over the boiling pot and all at once, to his horror, he
+saw the boat half double up and go shooting into the middle of this
+miniature maelstrom.
+
+“I’m a goner!” yelled Charley, and he tumbled out of the boat.
+
+But he was too late to save himself.
+
+Like a flash the boat disappeared beneath the water.
+
+Charley made a noble effort to save himself, but the suction was too
+much for him.
+
+“Oh, Dick!” he cried suddenly, and then threw up his hands and was gone.
+
+Dick hesitated just one instant--no more.
+
+Without even stopping to throw off his coat he took a header into the
+boiling pot, disappearing like a flash.
+
+It seemed a piece of mad folly.
+
+How could he hope to rescue Charley under such circumstances as these?
+
+But Dick never gave that a thought. He would have jumped in just the
+same if he had known that he was jumping to his death.
+
+Down he went--down--down--drawn deeper every second by that terrible
+pull.
+
+“I’m a goner,” he thought “I can’t help myself,” and his heart began to
+fail him as he was still drawn on and on, deeper into the boiling pot.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII. THE WONDERFUL CAVERN.
+
+
+Holding his breath and still being dragged downward by that terrible
+suction, Dick Darrell gave himself up for lost.
+
+His only hope was that his previous experience under the lake might be
+repeated.
+
+And in a different way this is just what happened. Dick was brought up
+with a round turn before he knew it.
+
+Suddenly the suction ceased and he went shooting forward; the next he
+knew his head was out of water and he was swimming for all he was worth
+down a swiftly flowing stream.
+
+He was now in a mighty cavern and it was comparatively light.
+
+Above him was the roof with immense stalactites hanging down like great
+icicles; the wall on his left was covered with the same glittering
+white formation; on the right the cave extended off into the distance
+further than the eye could reach; on ahead there was no roof, the
+cavern being open to the sky for a space of several hundred feet, which
+admitted light and air and enabled Dick to take in his surroundings.
+
+It was a truly wonderful place. Doubtless the opening was at some
+inaccessible point far up on the top of the mountain. It was at least a
+hundred feet up from the floor of the cavern and nothing without wings
+could hope to reach it.
+
+The stream rushed on with tremendous rapidity and Dick, feeling that
+he might be swept into a worse place, made all possible haste to get
+ashore, something not to be accomplished without difficulty, but at
+last he managed it, and, wet to the skin and gasping for breath, he
+sank down upon the sand and lay there, scarcely caring whether he lived
+or died.
+
+This state of things lasted only for a few moments, however.
+
+Dick’s strength soon returned and he scrambled to his feet and gave the
+peculiar shout which had been agreed upon as a signal between Charley
+and himself.
+
+There was so answer, although Dick shouted again and again. Still he
+did not give up hope now, for it was easy to imagine that Charley might
+have been swept on further and still have escaped.
+
+Dick ran on, calling, wild with anxiety, but nevertheless keeping cool,
+until at length he came under the opening, where he halted from sheer
+exhaustion and again sank down upon the sand.
+
+“This won’t do,” he thought. “I must brace up. I escaped before and I
+shall escape again. It’s a wonder that these underground outlets don’t
+drain the lake off. I’ve seen two of them now and I believe there are
+others. Hello! What’s that on ahead?”
+
+The sun struck down through the big hole in the roof of the cavern and
+far in the distance there seemed to be a curious shimmering of light.
+
+“It’s a lake--that’s what it is--an underground lake, just as Charley
+said,” thought Dick. “I’ll make for it, only I must get the water out
+of my clothes.”
+
+He hurriedly undressed and wrung his wet clothing out as dry as
+possible, dressing himself as soon as he had finished.
+
+“I suppose I shall get my death of cold either way,” he thought “so I
+might as well put my clothes on as to leave them off. Now for the lake.
+Nothing like a good run to warm a fellow up in a case like this.”
+
+He ran with all his might, coming in a few moments out upon the shore
+of a broad sheet of water, which extended off as far as the eye could
+penetrate into the darkness.
+
+The cavern was of vast proportions. Dick could see no walls on either
+side now, and as the lake cut off further advance, his heart sank, for
+how could he hope to escape from this strange place? The case seemed
+hopeless, indeed.
+
+As Dick stood there on the shore of the lake wondering what he ought to
+do, his attention was suddenly attracted by seeing in the distance a
+shadowy form hurrying toward him along the shore.
+
+“Charley! Charley! That you, Charley?” he shouted, starting off on the
+run again.
+
+The shadow halted and stood motionless, but there was no response.
+
+“It’s not Charley,” thought Dick. “If it was he would certainly answer.
+Who can it be? By gracious, it’s a woman! Hello, there! Hello! Don’t be
+afraid of me! I’ll not do you any harm.”
+
+The shadow had turned and started to run away, but seeming to be
+reassured by Dick’s cry, stopped again and now waited for him to come
+up.
+
+As Dick drew nearer he almost forgot Charley in the excitement which
+came over him as he recognized Clara Eglinton.
+
+“Who is it?” she called out. “What do you want with me? I won’t go
+back! No, I won’t!”
+
+“Miss Eglinton! Don’t you know me?” cried Dick.
+
+She recognized him the instant he spoke.
+
+“Oh, Mr. Darrell!” she exclaimed. “What ever brought you here? Oh, I am
+so thankful to see you! I--I----”
+
+She paused and burst into a passion of tears.
+
+Dick caught her in his arms and spoke such soothing words as came first
+to his tongue.
+
+“I am here to help you,” he said, “although my coming here is only the
+result of an accident. Tell me about yourself. What brought you here
+and how is it that you are alone?”
+
+“It was that scoundrel Mudd!” replied the girl. “He has held me a
+prisoner in this dreadful place since his tools captured me on the
+mountain night before last. They have a camp down here, Mr. Darrell.
+I’ve been a close prisoner until about an hour ago, when I managed to
+get away and--oh, oh! There comes that dreadful noise again! What is
+it? Oh, what is it?”
+
+In her excitement she clutched Dick’s arm and begged him to protect
+her, and there was nothing strange about her excitement either, for
+an awful bellowing was heard off on the lake, echoing and re-echoing
+back from the rocky walls of the cavern until the whole atmosphere
+reverberated with the frightful sound.
+
+But it did not disturb Dick a bit. He knew very well that it was only
+the Plesiosaurus.
+
+This underground lake then had its monster as well as the one above.
+Of course, Dick had given up the idea that there was only one P. D. He
+knew that there must be many and if Charley had only been safe with him
+he would have rejoiced in the discovery.
+
+As it was he hastily explained to Clara what the noise really meant and
+as the bellowing continued they stood there looking off on the lake
+watching for the Plesiosaurus to appear.
+
+“We may not see it at all,” said Dick. “There! It has stopped. No doubt
+it has gone under the water and--oh, Charley! Charley! This way! Here I
+am! It’s Dick! Hello! Hello!”
+
+Suddenly Charley’s shout was heard in the distance and Dick lost no
+time in answering.
+
+At the same instant there was a rushing sound on the water right in
+front of them and the same old monstrous head came up out of the lake.
+
+Clara screamed and threw her arms about Dick.
+
+Higher and higher the head was thrust up as the neck of the monster
+came out of the water.
+
+Then came the frightful bellow once more and the head of the monster
+came darting toward them.
+
+Flinging a protecting arm about Clara, Dick drew her hastily back and
+they ran for their lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV. LOST UNDERGROUND.
+
+
+The Plesiosaurus made no attempt to come up out of the water.
+
+Once more it gave its strange cry and Dick, looking around, saw its
+huge back come up into view, and, with its long neck arched like a
+swan, it sailed away over the lake and was soon lost to view in the
+darkness.
+
+Dick and Clara had now stopped running and stood looking off over the
+lake watching the strange creature as it sailed away.
+
+“I ought to be ashamed of myself for being so timid, Mr. Darrell,”
+said Clara. “But I have had such a dreadful time that my nerves are
+all shaken. What is that creature? I didn’t suppose anything like it
+existed on earth.”
+
+“And I don’t believe there is such a thing existing anywhere else,”
+replied Dick. “I’ll tell you all about it in a few moments. My friend
+is coming. I’ve got such a lot to tell you. Do you know I almost wonder
+that you remember my name--you only saw me for a moment that night in
+Washington.”
+
+“Indeed, I am not likely to forget your bravery then,” replied Clara,
+“nor what you tried to do for me on the mountain the other night.”
+
+“Hello, Dick! Hello! Hello! Where are you?” Charley’s welcome voice was
+heard shouting, although as yet he had not appeared.
+
+Dick had paused several times in his conversation to give Charley the
+call and he now did so again.
+
+In a moment they caught sight of a shadow coming along the shore of the
+lake and soon Charley, with his clothes as badly saturated as Dick’s,
+came hurrying up.
+
+It was a joyful meeting and the next ten minutes were devoted to
+explanations and telling their respective stories.
+
+Charley’s experience had been just the same as Dick’s, except that he
+was swept into the lake and had a hard job getting ashore, as he had
+become greatly exhausted.
+
+“Lucky old P. D. didn’t rise near me or I should have been a goner,” he
+said. “Strange you didn’t hear me holler, Dick. I kept it up all the
+time.”
+
+“So did I,” replied Dick, “but we must have been a long way apart at
+the beginning. Now, Charley, what is to be done? Here we three are in
+this hole and the thing is to get out as quick as ever we can, but for
+the life of me I don’t see how we are going to do it without running
+into Mudd and his gang.”
+
+Clara had explained her situation fully by this time. It appeared
+that she had been on her way to the mine her father owned in the
+neighborhood of the Black Hills, the man Bill Struthers having been
+sent down to the railroad to meet her and guide her through the Bad
+Lands to the mine.
+
+Mudd, she declared, was a man whom her father had used in his business,
+but had to discharge on account of dishonesty. “He’s a thorough
+scoundrel,” Clara went on to say; “he swore to be avenged on father
+and this is the way he has taken to do it. He brought me here and sent
+Bill in to tell father that the horse ran away with me and was lost.
+They expect father will offer a big reward to the man who finds me and
+I know they mean to trump up a story about my being captured by Indians
+and held for ransom. When they have got all the money they can out of
+father I suppose they mean to let me go.”
+
+They kept on talking thus until Dick called a halt by making the remark
+quoted above.
+
+“I’m blest if I see how we are going to get out,” said Charley. “We
+can’t go back up through the boiling pot, that’s certain. Perhaps Miss
+Eglinton will tell us how she was brought down into the cave.”
+
+“Oh, I thought I told you about that!” exclaimed Clara.
+
+“You certainly didn’t,” answered Dick “I’ve been waiting for a chance
+to ask you.”
+
+“It’s easily explained, but, see here, boys, as we have been thrown
+together in this strange way we want to be as good friends as possible.
+I’m Clara to all my friends and that’s what you must call me.”
+
+“I agree to that, providing you return the compliment,” replied Dick.
+“Now, don’t you worry. We are going to get out of this trouble and you
+are going back to camp with us. Our guide, Doctor Dan, knows every inch
+of the Bad Lands and we will start for your father’s mine at once and
+won’t leave you until you are safe in his hands.”
+
+Clara was very grateful and she went on to tell how, after her capture,
+Mudd had blindfolded her for a few moments, halting for that purpose in
+a rocky glen, as she called it.
+
+In this condition she had been led down some steps and when the
+handkerchief was removed from her eyes she found herself underground,
+being hurried along a narrow passage, which finally led them into the
+cave, where later the man Tony came, bringing the horses, which seemed
+to have come down by another way.
+
+Later all three of the men rode off and were gone some time, but
+Mudd and Tony soon came riding back again. Since then they had been
+coming and going, Clara herself being kept a close prisoner until this
+morning, when she managed to slip the cords off her hands, and, as none
+of the three were in the camp at the time, she made her escape and had
+wandered about the cavern until she met Dick.
+
+“What we have got to do, then,” said Dick, “is to get back to that camp
+and see what we can find out about these different ways in and out of
+the cave. I wouldn’t wonder a bit, Charley, if Doctor Dan was right
+after all and that horse did lead us to the very spot where Clara was
+blindfolded. It was just such a place as she describes.”
+
+“Must we go back there,” said Clara. “I’d rather do almost anything
+else. You can’t imagine how I dread being captured by those men again
+and you know what Mudd has been to you, Dick.”
+
+“I don’t, but I wish I did,” replied Dick. “I can’t make the man out
+at all. In one breath he threatens to kill me and in the next he is
+talking about making me a millionaire. I believe he’s crazy, if you
+want to know really what I think.”
+
+It seemed entirely necessary to go back to the camp, however, so Clara
+undertook to guide them to the place.
+
+From the first Dick felt his doubts about her being able to do it, for
+she turned away from the lake after they had advanced along the shore
+for a short distance and soon they were in a part of the cavern where
+it was so dark that they could scarcely see a foot ahead of them.
+
+For an hour or more they wandered about.
+
+For a long time Clara had been very silent, only speaking when one of
+the boys directly addressed her.
+
+At length she stopped short, exclaiming:
+
+“It is no use, boys. I can’t find the place. We are lost here
+underground!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV. MR. MUDD TURNS UP AGAIN.
+
+
+“Now, that’s all right!” exclaimed Dick. “Until you were ready to give
+up, Clara, I didn’t want to say a word, but I think I can pilot the way
+to the camp.”
+
+“How, when you have never been there?” asked Clara. “Oh, I feel so
+ashamed of myself. I thought I could lead you straight back to it.
+Don’t be angry with me, Dick.”
+
+“As though I could be,” exclaimed Dick. “You have done your best and
+now if you give it up let me have my try.”
+
+“What do you mean to do?” asked Charley. “Upon my word, I’m all turned
+around myself.”
+
+“I’ll show you,” replied Dick. “First we want to get back where we
+started out. It’s easy enough to do that.”
+
+“I couldn’t do it,” said Clara. “I’ll own up that’s what I’ve been
+trying to do for the last half hour, but I just seemed to lead you
+round and round in a circle.”
+
+“I’ll fix it,” said Dick, confidently. “Come this way.”
+
+He started off in directly the opposite direction to that which they
+had been following.
+
+“Oh, I see!” cried Clara. “I understand now. You are going toward the
+light.”
+
+“Exactly,” replied Dick. “The light comes down through that hole in the
+roof and the underground river and the lake are right there and that’s
+where we have got to look for the trail.”
+
+“I saw no trail,” said Charley. “I looked for that when we started out.”
+
+“It’s there and we’ll find it. Doctor Dan has given me some good
+pointers on trails. Trust an Indian for that. He’ll find a footprint
+where a white man could see nothing. We shall soon be back at the lake
+and then I’ll show you how well I’ve learned my lesson.”
+
+In a short time Dick brought up at the lake and soon found the spot
+where he had encountered Clara.
+
+“Now there you are!” he exclaimed, after bending down and examining the
+sand, which was pretty hard to be sure, but still the faint imprint of
+Clara’s footsteps could be seen.
+
+“I’m afraid if you expect to follow my course you will have a hard time
+of it,” said Clara. “I was wandering about a long time before I met
+you, Dick.”
+
+“I’m not going to,” replied Dick. “I think I can do it without the
+trail. Tell me, was this camp against the wall of the cave?”
+
+“There were big rocks right back of where we were, if that is what you
+mean,” replied Clara.
+
+“That’s it. How about the lake?”
+
+“Oh, I saw nothing of the lake until I had been walking around for some
+time.”
+
+“Would you know the place when you first struck it?”
+
+“I think I should. There was a black rock sticking up out of the water.”
+
+“Very good! Then we’ll go to the black rock. That’s easy found.”
+
+“I thought that I could strike right over to the place,” remarked
+Clara, as they walked along. “I never had the faintest idea that I was
+going to get lost.”
+
+“We’ll strike off from the black rock,” said Dick. “When we were
+following you we kept going around in a circle, but I think I can
+strike a straight line to the wall; after that it will be dead easy,
+for all we have got to do is to follow the wall around.”
+
+They soon reached the black rock and Dick again showed them the trail.
+
+Still he did not attempt to follow it, but started off rapidly in the
+direction which he considered the wall ought to be, and hit it so
+accurately that within ten minutes they came up against the rocks.
+
+“Why, you are a splendid guide!” exclaimed Clara. “Now, what is to be
+done?”
+
+“Which way do you think the camp lies?” asked Dick.
+
+Clara pointed to the left and Dick promptly started off to the right.
+
+“I suppose you wonder what I’m doing this for?” he said, “but I happen
+to know that you are wrong.”
+
+“I’m sure I’m right,” said Clara. “How can you know that I am not?”
+
+“Listen!” replied Dick.
+
+“I hear something like the pawing of a horse,” said Charley.
+
+“That’s exactly it. I heard the sound before we came to the wall. It’s
+the camp, of course, and what’s more, Martin Mudd or one of his men has
+returned.”
+
+“For mercy’s sake, don’t expose yourself, Dick,” said Clara. “Tell me
+what your plan is. I hate to even think of what might happen if you
+fell into the hands of Mudd.”
+
+“Then don’t think of it, for he is already in the hands of Mudd!” spoke
+a sneering voice right ahead of them.
+
+Clara screamed and Dick and Charley hastily drew their revolvers, for
+at the same instant two men armed with rifles sprang out from behind a
+turn in the rocks, and the foremost man was Mudd.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI. MARTIN MUDD MAKES A SERIOUS CHARGE.
+
+
+“Throw up nothing!” shouted Dick Darrell when Martin Mudd called out,
+“Throw up your hands!” and he rushed forward, firing two shots as he
+went.
+
+This rather took Mudd & Co. by surprise, as they had not expected
+anything of the sort.
+
+One of the shots went through Mudd’s rusty “tile,” knocking it off his
+head.
+
+“Oh, I’m shot! I’m shot!” he yelled. “Spare my life, boys!”
+
+Down he fell all in a heap.
+
+Tony had fired one shot, but, seeing Charley rush up to help Dick,
+letting fly with his revolver as he came, the valiant Tony took to his
+heels and sprinted off into the depths of the cavern.
+
+Dick lost no time in making Mudd a prisoner.
+
+Clara and Charley lent a hand and with a stout cord, which the latter
+happened to have in his pocket, they tied the fellow’s hands behind him.
+
+While this was going on Mudd kept up a dreadful racket, calling out in
+one breath that he was shot and the next begging the boys not to shoot
+him.
+
+He made so much noise about it that Dick unfeelingly suggested that he
+was not shot at all and told him he had better hold his tongue.
+
+“Yes I am, too,” growled Mudd. “I know I am. This is a nice way to
+treat a man who has been deserted by his friend. Miss Clara, you might
+plead my cause, I think. I was always a good friend of your father’s,
+as you know very well.”
+
+“What impudence!” exclaimed Clara. “After the way you have used me,
+too!”
+
+“Don’t see it in that light at all,” returned Mudd. “I haven’t ill used
+you. Your father owes me money that I can’t collect. I simply detained
+you until I could collect it--that’s all.”
+
+“If you don’t stop your noise, mister, I’ll put a gag in your mouth!”
+cried Dick. “Just stand still, will you, and I’ll soon see where you
+are hurt. Charley, pick up his hat. Clara, hold the lantern. We will
+straighten this thing out right now.”
+
+It was Mudd’s own lantern, which he dropped when he fell. Clara
+had picked it up and lighted it again and Dick now made a careful
+examination of the man, but could find no wound.
+
+“You are not hurt at all,” declared Dick.
+
+“One shot went through his hat,” said Charley.
+
+“It’s a pity it didn’t go through his head,” added Dick. “Now, then,
+Mr. Mudd, seeing that you know the way out of this place I’ll thank you
+to show it to us, and be quick about it, do you understand?”
+
+Mudd began to snuffle.
+
+“I’ll do it,” he drawled. “I do it under protest, because I have to
+do it. I’m a man of very sensitive feelings and I don’t like to be
+talked rough to like that. I’m like the devil. I’m not as black as I’m
+painted. I’ve acted in your interest, Dick Darrell, right along.”
+
+“So you say,” replied Dick. “I suppose, of course, you were acting for
+my interest when you tried to stick a knife into my back in the streets
+of Washington. Oh, you’re a bird, you are! Travel on and show us the
+way out of here and hold your tongue or I’ll make you--that’s all!”
+
+Mudd seemed thoroughly cowed. With his hands tied behind him he
+shuffled on through the cavern.
+
+Dick noticed that he kept in a direct line with the lake and seemed to
+know just where he was going, which, indeed, proved to be the case, for
+in a few moments he paused beside what seemed to be a flight of stone
+steps.
+
+“There’s the way out,” he growled.
+
+“Why, these are regular stairs!” exclaimed Dick.
+
+“It’s right,” said Clara. “I was brought down this way.”
+
+“Of course it’s right,” growled Mudd. “If I may be allowed to speak
+now, I would like to say that these steps constitute a most important
+archæological discovery and one which should be communicated to the
+Smithsonian Institute. Yours truly, Martin Mudd, is the discoverer, so
+please mention his name in your report. You might call them the Mudd
+stairs, only that would be rather a misnomer, seeing that they are made
+of stone.”
+
+“Upon my word, you are the windiest beggar I ever came across,” said
+Dick. “Who built these stairs, anyway?”
+
+“There you go hurting my feelings again, and without the slightest
+reason,” retorted Mudd. “To the best of my knowledge and belief they
+were built by some prehistoric tribe of Indians like the cliff dwellers
+of the Colorado canyon. Don’t forget to mention my name when you make
+your report.”
+
+“Oh, I’ll mention your name in my report fast enough--don’t you fret,”
+replied Dick. “Lead on, Clara. If these steps will take us out of this
+hole we don’t want to lose any time.”
+
+“There’s a big stone to lift at the top of the flight,” said Mudd. “If
+you will untie my hands I’ll show you how to work it. You needn’t be
+afraid that I’ll run away.”
+
+But Dick would have none of his assistance, and, as it proved, it was
+not needed, for he was easily able to lift the stone himself.
+
+It seemed to move on two dowels set in sockets cut in the ledge; a very
+clever piece of work, which Dick determined to study into later on.
+
+When they came up into the open air our little party found themselves
+at the very point where the horse had stopped, proving Doctor Dan to
+have been entirely right in his conclusions.
+
+They were now free, but with the boat gone it seemed rather a
+discouraging situation, for night would soon be upon them and to take
+the long walk through the canyon and down the mountain and then up
+again on the other trail was not to be thought of at all.
+
+“Mr. Mudd,” said Dick, turning to their prisoner, “you left a note for
+me in that hut over there by the lake?”
+
+“Ah! So you found it, did you?” replied Mudd. “Well?”
+
+“You asked me to meet you there alone at midnight and promised some
+important disclosures. You will have an opportunity to make them in the
+hut very soon, for I’m going to take you there now.”
+
+“You may take me there if you wish, same as you can take a horse to
+water,” growled Mudd.
+
+“By which I suppose you mean that I shall have the same trouble making
+you talk against your will that I would in making the horse drink
+unless he chose--is that it?”
+
+“That is it exactly. Same time, young feller, I’m willing to talk if
+I’m paid.”
+
+“I told you what I’d do,” said Dick. “You put a million dollars in my
+hands and I’ll give you a hundred thousand.”
+
+“Will you give it to me in writing?” asked Mudd, quickly.
+
+“Yes, I will.”
+
+“Good enough! Come on to the hut. This is no joke, Dick Darrell. You
+have been wronged out of a large fortune and I know it. I could name
+the man who did it if I chose and I have a great mind to do it, too.”
+
+As he spoke Martin Mudd shot a malignant look at Clara, which Dick did
+not at all understand just then.
+
+“Name him,” he said. “Speak out. I mean business; show that you do,
+too.”
+
+They were walking along through the canyon at the time and Mudd kept on
+for some moments in silence.
+
+Suddenly he looked up, exclaiming:
+
+“Well, I will name him. He is Colonel Tom Eglinton, the father of that
+girl!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII. CAUGHT NAPPING.
+
+
+“It is false!” cried Clara. “How dare you accuse my father of crime?”
+
+“It’s true,” persisted Mudd; “and now that the cat is out of the bag,
+I’m going to tell the whole story, so that Dick Darrell can see what
+sort of cattle he is dealing with when he comes to deal with old Tom
+Eglinton and his brood.”
+
+“Hold your tongue or I’ll pull it out for you!” exclaimed Dick; “you
+have no right to insult this young lady so. Never mind him, Clara. We
+know what he is. Don’t pay the least attention to him. He is talking
+the same way he got shot--through his hat.”
+
+“Oh, all right, then,” retorted Mudd. “I’ll hold my tongue. Stick
+to your friends, the Eglintons, young feller, only let me tell you
+one thing, it was old Tom Eglinton who hired me to kill you--that’s
+straight.”
+
+It was a most awkward situation for Dick.
+
+Poor Clara was terribly overcome by the charge brought against her
+father, and it took all Dick’s tact and shrewdness to put her at her
+ease again.
+
+Charley took it all in and said but little, reserving his comments
+until they had reached the hut and disposed of their prisoner.
+
+The sun was now sinking behind the hills and night coming on.
+
+Dick scanned the opposite shore of the lake through his glass, but
+could see nothing of Doctor Dan.
+
+Things at the hut were exactly as they had left them, and as there was
+no possibility of leaving it before morning, Dick proceeded to make his
+arrangements accordingly.
+
+Mudd was put in the loft and his feet tied as well as his hands.
+
+The wily schemer made a vigorous protest against it all, but Dick would
+not listen to him, and he closed the trapdoor, which communicated with
+the loft, and left him to himself.
+
+As Clara was very much fatigued, Dick suggested that she take
+possession of one of the bunks in the lower room and lie down, which
+she did shortly after dark.
+
+As for the boys themselves, they had no other idea than to stand guard
+until morning.
+
+The night was just perfect; the air soft and balmy and every star
+seemed to be out for business.
+
+Arm in arm, Dick and Charley walked up and down the shore in front of
+the hut discussing the singular adventures which had befallen them, but
+it remained for Charley to bring the conversation back to Martin Mudd.
+
+“You don’t say much about that wild talk he made, Dick,” Charley began.
+“Don’t take any stock in it, I suppose?”
+
+“Why, of course not,” laughed Dick. “It’s mere bluff.”
+
+“I don’t feel so sure about that,” said Charley, musingly. “I believe
+that there is something under it all.”
+
+“Guess not,” replied Dick, carelessly. “The mean wretch! He wanted to
+make poor Clara feel bad, that’s all. To-morrow, just as soon as it is
+light, we must all start down the mountain and get around to the other
+side of the lake. Doctor Dan shall decide whether we go back to Node
+Ranch with our prisoner or not, but I think it’s the best thing we can
+do.”
+
+“Suppose we build a big fire and let the Doctor know we are here?”
+suggested Charley.
+
+“Yes, and let that scoundrel Tony know, too, and perhaps half a dozen
+others. No, thank you. I don’t care about that. We’ll let well enough
+alone.”
+
+For a few moments the boys continued to pace the shore in silence and
+then Charley broke out again.
+
+“I can’t get away from it, Dick,” he said. “I think you ought to listen
+to what Mudd has to tell.”
+
+“Oh, I’ll listen all right,” replied Dick. “Trouble is he won’t talk
+now.”
+
+“No; you’ve got him mad. Say, Dick, you never told me much about your
+folks. I know your father and mother are both dead, but----”
+
+“But you still persist in thinking that I may turn out to be a
+millionaire. No, Charley, I’m just nobody. My father was a mining
+engineer and poor as a church mouse. He used to operate out in this
+section, but he never made much more than a living. When I was about
+ten years old he was killed in a fight in Cheyenne and my mother died
+soon afterward. She always claimed that father owned mining lands out
+West, but she had no papers to prove it, so I guess there was nothing
+in it after all.”
+
+“Now there you are!” cried Charley. “Who knows but what Mudd might have
+been acquainted with your father?”
+
+“Might be so, of course, but, come. We have gone too far away from the
+hut. Let’s get back. We mustn’t do it again.”
+
+“Let’s go ahead to the Boiling Pot; it’s only a few steps further.
+Hark! Don’t you hear? It has got down to business again.”
+
+The surging of the waters over at the pot could be distinctly heard
+as the boys drew nearer and when they reached the point on the shore
+opposite to it the noise seemed louder than when they had heard it
+before.
+
+Charley bent over the edge of the bank watching the movement of the
+water intently.
+
+Just then the same familiar bellow was heard out on the lake and the
+Plesiosaurus rose to the surface at a considerable distance from shore.
+
+“By gracious, old P. D. again!” shouted Charley.
+
+Dick turned to look, when all at once there was a splash and Charley
+went headlong into the lake, pushed by a man who had stolen noiselessly
+up behind them, while Dick was seized by two others and swung violently
+around.
+
+“Throw him after the other one!” cried one of the men. “Let ’em both go
+down into the pot!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII. OLD P. D. LOOKS DOWN OVER THE ROCKS.
+
+
+Charley was floundering around in the whirl of waters, struggling for
+dear life to prevent being dragged down into the boiling pot.
+
+Dick was engaged in a struggle of another sort. He was making it
+decidedly hot for the men who had tackled him, kicking and turning and
+twisting. They tried hard to throw him over the edge of the bank and
+might have succeeded if another man had not come running out of the
+mouth of the canyon, shouting:
+
+“No, no! Don’t pitch him in! Let the other go to thunder, but I want
+this one, as I told you before.”
+
+It was Tony. As Dick recognized him he was suddenly stretched upon the
+ground by a stunning blow between the eyes that one of his captors
+found a chance to get in.
+
+It nearly knocked the breath out of his body and his wits went with it
+for the moment.
+
+When he came to himself again Tony had him by the collar and was
+lifting him up, while three tough-looking specimens stood around ready
+to help.
+
+The Boiling Pot had stopped boiling now and Charley was nowhere to be
+seen.
+
+“Say, Dick Darrell, brace up! Pull yourself together!” cried Tony.
+“Where’s Mudd and the gal?”
+
+“Find out,” panted Dick. “I’m not telling. What have you done with my
+friend?”
+
+“Oh, he’s gone back in the cave all right, I reckon,” chuckled Tony.
+“You’re a slick fighter, you are. See the black eye you have given my
+friend here? Never mind, though, you’ll be paid up for this.”
+
+Dick was silent. There was no chance for any further struggles, for
+his hands had been tied behind him and he knew by the feeling that his
+revolver had been taken away.
+
+“I guess Mudd is up to the hut all right, and the gal, too,” said Tony.
+“Hustle him along, boys. I’ll go ahead and make sure.”
+
+Tony ran on and by the time Dick reached the hut Martin Mudd came out
+to meet him, with Tony by his side.
+
+“Yes, that’s the right boy,” he said, glancing at Dick. “I knew you
+wouldn’t desert me, Tony. I shan’t forget this.”
+
+“Well, you see I fell in with these here friends of mine,” said Tony.
+“Old cow punchers, every one on ’em. I was going down to Node Ranch for
+help, but thought I might as well come back and help you out when I met
+them.”
+
+“Help me out still further by giving me a chance to talk to this boy,”
+said Mudd. “I’ve got something very important to say to him. With the
+girl stowed away in my place up in the loft the hut gives me just my
+chance.”
+
+“And you want us to stay out--is that the idea?” asked Tony.
+
+“Why, yes.”
+
+“The boys won’t never consent to it while the whisky jug is inside, as
+they happen to know it is.”
+
+“Go in and get the jug and help yourselves. Here’s the key to the
+locker,” replied Mudd, thrusting his hand into his pocket, adding:
+
+“No, by Jove, it isn’t, either. I must have left it in the pocket of my
+other coat. Come on in and we’ll all have a drink.”
+
+“But what about the boy?” asked Tony.
+
+“Oh, tumble him over on the ground. He can’t get up with his hands
+tied.”
+
+“Yes he can, too.”
+
+“Then tie his feet into the bargain and make sure. We won’t be gone ten
+minutes anyhow.”
+
+And this was just the way they served poor Dick.
+
+Tied hand and foot, he lay there on the shore of the lake filled with
+anxiety for his friends and forced to listen to the drunken songs and
+wild shouts of Mudd and his crew inside the hut.
+
+The proposed ten minutes had lengthened into an hour and still no one
+came out of the hut.
+
+Mudd seemed to have forgotten all about his proposed talk with Dick,
+until at last the door of the hut flew open and he came staggering
+along with his rusty old plug tilted back on his head and his necktie
+twisted around under his chin.
+
+“Hello, Dick--Dick Darrell,” he said, thickly. “Are you there?”
+
+“Can’t you see me?” replied Dick. “You could if you weren’t drunk.”
+
+“Don’t sass me, boy, for it won’t pay you,” replied Mudd, staggering up
+to Dick and sitting down upon the ground beside him.
+
+His back was now against a pile of rocks, which at this point cropped
+out upon the shore.
+
+“Let me free, Mudd,” said Dick. “Come, now, no use in us two
+quarreling. Let me free.”
+
+“Not a bit of use in our quarreling,” hiccoughed Mudd, “but I won’t set
+you free yet. Say, Dick Darrell, here’s the--here’s the--hic--the whole
+business in a clam shell. Clara’s father robbed your father of the big
+Gold Queen mine up in the Black Hills and hired a man to do your father
+up and he did.”
+
+“Do you know this,” cried Dick. “You are pretty drunk, Mudd; do you
+feel sure you are speaking the truth?”
+
+“Sure!” cried Mudd. “Why, of course, I’m sure! Hain’t I the--well,
+never mind. I was paid $5,000 to do you up all right, though, and Tom
+Eglinton is the man who paid the plunks. Burn him! He’s no good. That
+Gold Queen mine belongs to you, young feller, and it’s worth more’n
+a million, by Jove! Sign that air paper ’bout the hundred thousand
+dollars and I’ll give you evidence against Tom Eglinton what will hold
+good in any court--oh, great snakes, what’s this?”
+
+Dick was scarcely listening now--he was staring up at the rocks above
+Martin Mudd’s head.
+
+Over the edge of the rocks a monstrous head had just been thrust--it
+was the head of a Plesiosaurus--it dropped down and knocked off the
+battered plug.
+
+Mudd looked up and sprang to his feet with a frightened yell.
+
+“Got ’em again!” he bellowed loud enough to rival old P. D.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX. DICK IMPROVES HIS OPPORTUNITIES.
+
+
+Shouting for help from the hut, Martin Mudd ran toward it and
+disappeared inside.
+
+But Dick was in no situation to defend himself from the monster,
+unfortunately.
+
+All he could do was to lie there and look, but, truth told, he was not
+much scared and rather anticipated what happened next.
+
+There was something wrong in the make-up of old P. D.’s head this time.
+
+In the first place the big, staring eyes were missing and in their
+stead were simply two empty sockets.
+
+If this, indeed, was a living Plesiosaurus it was a blind one, and,
+moreover, the scaly skin had a dried up, leathery appearance and the
+head fell down over the rocks after Martin Mudd ran away and just hung
+there limply.
+
+“A fake! A dead one!” flashed over Dick, and he added to himself: “This
+is some of Doctor Dan’s work.”
+
+And so it was. As Martin Mudd fled from the monster Doctor Dan came
+crawling out from behind the rocks, carrying a long stick in his hand.
+
+“Hush, boy! Don’t say a word!” he whispered. “I’ll have you free in
+just one minute. Ha! Ha! Ha! How he did run!”
+
+The Indian was shaking all over with suppressed laughter, as he cut the
+cords which held Dick a prisoner.
+
+“Good for you, doctor!” cried Dick, springing up. “What have you been
+doing; killing old P. D.?”
+
+“Not at all. That one is dead and it is only a fragment,” replied the
+Indian. He seized the dangling head and pulled and two or three yards
+of neck came whipping over the rocks and that was all there was to old
+P. D.
+
+It was all dried up and looked decidedly aged.
+
+“I ran this stick in under the jaw and just shook the head at him,”
+chuckled Doctor Dan. “Didn’t it scare him, though? Ha! Ha! Ha! Where
+is Charley, Dick? What in the world have you been about to let those
+fellows capture you? Oh, don’t be afraid of them. They are all dead
+drunk and asleep in the hut there but that man and he is such a coward
+that--ha--here he comes now.”
+
+Mudd stepped out of the hut at that moment.
+
+His jaw dropped when he saw Dick free and Doctor Dan with him.
+
+Evidently Martin Mudd believed in the old adage that “he who fights and
+runs away may live to fight another day,” for he ran off up the lake
+shore as fast as his condition would allow.
+
+Doctor Dan gave chase and fired two or three shots after him, but he
+did not catch the man and actually did not try.
+
+Mudd disappeared among the rocks which lined the shore, and the Indian
+soon returned and joined Dick in front of the hut.
+
+Dick was listening at the door and he held up his finger as Doctor Dan
+approached.
+
+“There’s one of them moving about inside there,” he whispered. “Keep
+still.”
+
+“Let ’em move,” said Doctor Dan. “Who are they, anyway? I looked in
+through the window and saw a lot of fellows lying about drunk in there,
+but they are all strangers to me. Say, where’s Charley, Dick?”
+
+“Dead, I’m afraid,” replied Dick, hoarsely. “Help me, doctor! That
+young lady I told you about is a prisoner in there. I’ll explain later,
+but we must settle with these fellows first.”
+
+“I’ll soon settle ’em,” chuckled Doctor Dan. “I’ll send them after your
+friend Mudd.”
+
+He ran back to the rocks and soon returned dragging the head of the
+Plesiosaurus after him, but it was not needed. All was quiet inside the
+hut now and when Dick ventured to open the door softly they were all
+sound asleep.
+
+Tony lay in the bunk, but the others were stretched out upon the floor.
+
+“Keep your eye on ’em, doctor,” whispered Dick, and he made for the
+loft ladder.
+
+In a few moments Clara came down the ladder and Dick quickly followed
+her.
+
+Doctor Dan took off his hat politely and Dick introduced Clara when
+they got outside.
+
+“Most happy to make your acquaintance, miss,” said the guide. “I have
+met your father. Once I had trouble with him. He got angry with me when
+I was guiding a party of prospectors among the Black Hills and tried to
+kill me. He shot at me twice, but I escaped. I only mention this so you
+may know just who I am.”
+
+Dick was greatly troubled. Clara turned red and pale again as she took
+Dick’s arm.
+
+“Doctor Dan,” she said, very quietly, “I know my father is a hard man.
+I can only say that I am sorry that--that----”
+
+“Say nothing,” broke in Doctor Dan. “I am an Indian, but I bear no
+malice toward you, miss. As for your father----”
+
+“Don’t doctor! Please don’t for my sake!” pleaded Dick.
+
+“Well, I’d do a good deal for your sake, young fellow,” said Doctor
+Dan. “I’m dumb. Come on. We want to get away from here.”
+
+“Not without old P. D.’s head,” said Dick. “It is most valuable to me.
+I shall ship it to Washington at the earliest opportunity. I’ll carry
+it if it is too heavy for you.”
+
+“Heavy! Nonsense! What am I here for?” replied Doctor Dan. He picked
+up the head, which, with the neck, must have weighed at least forty
+pounds, and walked off down the shore, leaving Dick and Clara to follow
+as they pleased.
+
+“I’m afraid of that man,” said Clara. “Oh, Dick, it is terrible to hear
+my father spoken of so, and yet----”
+
+Clara paused. Dick said nothing. He was beginning to think that Mr.
+Eglinton must be a pretty bad man.
+
+“And yet,” continued Clara, after a moment, “I am afraid my father is
+not a very good man. Oh, Dick, I hate to say it, but after what you
+have done for me I ought to tell you--to warn you. Martin Mudd has had
+dealings with my father. On that very night when he tried to kill you
+in Washington he had just left our house and--and--Dick, do look out
+for yourself. Don’t go with me to the Gold Queen mine on any account.”
+
+“I’m not afraid,” replied Dick, “but I am going to do just as you say,
+Clara.”
+
+“If my father has robbed you of what rightfully belongs to you he shall
+make it good!” cried Clara, her eyes flashing. “Leave it to me, Dick. I
+am the only one in the world who has any influence with him.”
+
+“If he had robbed me of a million and it was going to do you harm to
+try to get it back again I would not make a move,” whispered Dick.
+
+Clara turned away, her face suffused with blushes.
+
+Arm in arm they walked along the shore.
+
+Had Dick fallen in love?
+
+Certainly it began to look very much that way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX. THE SLEEPING PLESIOSAURUS.
+
+
+It was not until Dick and Clara had reached the Boiling Pot that the
+girl spoke again.
+
+“Where is Charley?” she asked. “Why isn’t he here?”
+
+Then Dick called a halt and told the whole story.
+
+Doctor Dan had been waiting for them and he listened with close
+attention.
+
+“It’s a bad business,” he said. “In all probability Charley has been
+sucked down into that underground river again, but as he went down once
+and escaped, he may have escaped a second time. Anyhow, let us hope so.
+Now, Dick, don’t you want to know how I came to be here, and where I
+got the head that scared your friend Mudd so?”
+
+“Indeed I do,” replied Dick, “and I want you to understand that I don’t
+give up hope about Charley at all, but one thing is certain, we have
+got to go down into the cavern and see if we can find him.”
+
+“Sure,” said Doctor Dan, “and we will find him. Now listen to me. There
+seem to be many ways into that cavern. I’ve been there. I found the
+Plesiosaurus’ head there. I came upon an opening in the rocks away over
+on the other side of the lake, near our camp, and, following it up, it
+took me into the cavern. I came out the same way you did. I crossed the
+underground river and, what is more, I struck your trail. I can take
+you back to camp the same way and we can hunt for Charley as we go.”
+
+This seemed to be entirely the correct scheme and Dick and Doctor Dan
+lost no time in carrying it out.
+
+The only objection Dick made was that they would have to work in the
+dark, but this Doctor Dan soon disposed of by producing a lantern,
+which he had brought along with him and hidden among the rocks in the
+canyon.
+
+Then they hurried on to the stone steps and were soon down in the
+cavern once more.
+
+Armed with the lantern, Doctor Dan went ahead and had no difficulty in
+following his own trail, for the floor of the cavern was composed of
+soft sand and the guide’s footsteps plainly showed.
+
+Now we have said but little about Dick’s anxiety for Charley, because
+there has been so much to tell, but it was of the keenest kind.
+
+As they walked along by the side of the underground river Dick kept
+shouting Charley’s name, as he had done before, hoping to get an
+answer, and before they had gone any great distance sure enough he did.
+
+Of course this threw the whole party into a great state of excitement
+and they hurried forward and soon came upon Charley, who was running
+toward them along the river bank.
+
+“It’s all right, Dick!” he shouted. “I came down as easy as you please.
+No trouble about the Boiling Pot once you know how to handle yourself
+in it. Hello, doctor. How in the world did you get over this side of
+the lake? Oh, Dick, I’ve got such news to tell!”
+
+Charley was so excited that he could hardly wait until Dick had told
+what happened at the hut, although he insisted upon hearing it all
+before he would explain.
+
+“We have got to look sharp or that scoundrel Mudd will finish us up
+sooner or later,” he exclaimed. “Now, then, Dick, what do you suppose I
+have found?”
+
+“Give it up, but I wish you would tell,” replied Dick. “Out with it! We
+are all dying to hear.”
+
+“Old P. D. asleep!”
+
+“What!”
+
+“Old P. D. asleep, I tell you. Oh, I mean it! This cave is a wonderful
+place. You haven’t seen half of it yet, nor I, either, for that matter.
+You see I landed on the other side of the river this time and I had
+to swim across, but before I did it I browsed around there a bit and
+made my discovery. I was working down to the steps when I met you. Keep
+the lantern down lower, doctor, so that I may follow my trail. There,
+that’s right. Dick, I believe we can catch old P. D. after all and hold
+him till we can get Prof. Poynter up here.”
+
+“It would be a big triumph if we could,” said Dick. “But I am waiting
+to have you tell me more about it, Charley. How did you make all these
+discoveries in the dark?”
+
+“Why, it wasn’t done in the dark,” replied Charley. “I found a lantern
+here. It went out a few moments ago for want of oil, so I left it
+behind me. Oh, I haven’t told you all I have discovered yet.”
+
+“Let’s have the rest of it then,” said Doctor Dan. “Hello! Here’s your
+lantern now.”
+
+There it stood on the sand, close to the river bank. Charley ran ahead
+and picked it up. “Here’s where I crossed. It’s only knee deep--all
+stones in the channel. We have got to get over, but what will Clara do?”
+
+“In a case like this if it is only knee deep I guess I can manage it,”
+said Clara. “I’m not afraid of getting my feet wet, Charley, when you
+are wet to the skin from head to foot.”
+
+“Wait,” said Doctor Dan; “let me go over first and see.”
+
+He pulled off his shoes and stockings, rolled up his trousers and waded
+across, but Charley plunged right in and crossed, for he could not have
+been wetter than he already was.
+
+“I can carry you across, miss, if you will let me,” called Doctor Dan,
+as he started back. “Don’t be afraid of me. I won’t hurt you even if I
+am an Indian and your father is my enemy.”
+
+“Go, Clara. It will please him,” whispered Dick.
+
+“Certainly I will let you,” replied Clara, and Doctor Dan stooped down,
+gathered the girl’s skirts together about her ankles, then lifted her
+up and carried her across the stream as easily as though she had been a
+baby.
+
+Dick hastily followed and they had no sooner joined Charley on the
+other side than he picked up the lantern and hurried forward away from
+the river so fast that they could hardly keep up with him.
+
+“We are right there now!” he called out. “Come on! Come on!”
+
+To their surprise a few moments later they emerged from the cavern and
+found themselves standing under the stars.
+
+“Hello!” cried Doctor Dan; “this beats me. I had no idea of anything
+like this.”
+
+It was a most peculiar spot. Before them lay a broad pool of water,
+perhaps a hundred yards across, beyond which was a low ridge of rocks,
+and over this they could look off upon the Bad Lands for miles and
+miles.
+
+“There you are!” cried Charley, pointing down into the pool. “He lies
+just as I left him--old P. D. asleep!”
+
+Sure enough, at the bottom of the pool, with its head tucked in under
+its huge body, lay a specimen of the strange prehistoric monster which
+Dick and Charley had come up into the Bad Lands to find.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI. LASSOING OLD P. D.
+
+
+“Is it asleep or is it dead?” asked Clara, after they had watched the
+Plesiosaurus for several moments in silence.
+
+“Asleep,” said Charley, decidedly. “It moved twice while I was watching
+it. Now, Dick, this is only part of my discovery. I----”
+
+“Yes, and I can tell you the rest,” said Dick, pointing over toward the
+rocky ridge beyond the pool. “We are not the first ones who have been
+here.”
+
+“Indeed we are not,” replied Charley. “You see?”
+
+There was a rude hut near the ridge and lying on the ground outside
+were two huge coils of rope, one almost as big round as a steamer’s
+hawser.
+
+Charley led the way around the pool and when they got to the hut Dick
+saw that a stout post ten feet high had been driven into the ground
+with big notches cut into it. In the hut were axes, crowbars and other
+tools; also a great roll of canvas and various other things. Charley
+explained that he found the lantern here.
+
+“Looks to me as though some one had brought all these things here for
+the express purpose of capturing old P. D.,” said Dick, “but they have
+been here a long while, Charley.”
+
+“For several years,” said Doctor Dan. “Strange that I never heard of
+this and I thought I knew the Bad Lands pretty well, too.”
+
+“Some one has tried it,” said Charley; “probably the pool is a regular
+hangout for this particular Plesiosaurus. There must be some connection
+with the underground river and the lake. I believe the scheme was to
+make a slip noose, drop it around old P. D.’s neck and tie him up to
+the post here until such time as some means could be found of getting
+him out.”
+
+“It would never work,” said Doctor Dan.
+
+“I’m not so sure,” said Dick. “We might succeed in tying him, anyway,
+and keeping him here in the pool till we could get help.”
+
+“Let’s try it, Dick,” said Charley, eagerly. “I go in for it.”
+
+“I think it might be done,” said Clara. “What a strange looking
+creature it is to be sure! Anyone could make their fortune by
+exhibiting it in the States.”
+
+“It will never be exhibited if we succeed in snaring it,” said Dick.
+“It belongs to the Smithsonian the moment it comes into our hands.”
+
+“What do you say, doctor?” he added. “Shall we try it on?”
+
+“I’m at your service, boys,” replied the Indian. “I can throw a lasso
+as well as any man alive and I think I ought to be able to drop a noose
+around that fellow’s neck, but, before we begin I think we had better
+see how we are going to get out of here. I want to take a look over
+these rocks.”
+
+“There’s a trail down the mountain--pretty steep, but still a trail,”
+declared Charley.
+
+One glance showed them that he was right. The trail was indeed steep
+and it had a strangely smooth and worn appearance, especially at a
+point where there was a break in the rocks and where it seemed to begin.
+
+“Oh, he’s lifting up his head!” cried Clara. “He’s waking up!”
+
+The Plesiosaurus perhaps had been disturbed by the loud talking. Slowly
+the great head came up through the water, rose above the surface and
+surveyed the party with its huge eyes in a fashion which seemed to show
+a decided bump of curiosity.
+
+Suddenly its mouth opened and the monster let out one mighty bellow
+which made the rocks around fairly ring.
+
+Clara screamed in terror, but old P. D. drew his head down in a
+dignified way and tucked it under his body again.
+
+“I could have lassoed him then!” cried Doctor Dan. “Pity we didn’t have
+the rope ready.”
+
+“We’ll get it ready right away,” said Dick, “for he may take a notion
+to have another look at us any moment. I wonder if this post will hold.”
+
+“It’s pretty firm,” said Doctor Dan, trying it. “I feel more worried
+about the rope. Lay hold here, boys, we will unwind it and tie one end
+to the post. Leave the knots to me. I’ll fix them so that two P. D.’s
+could not unloose them, but I don’t want to guarantee that the rope
+won’t break.”
+
+It took half an hour of good hard work to get everything in readiness
+and during all that time old P. D. had never moved.
+
+As there would be no chance to lasso him until he did, Dick and Charley
+undertook to stir the monster up by throwing big stones into the pool.
+
+Meanwhile Clara had taken her place at the top of the ridge behind the
+hut, rather a dangerous spot, too, for behind her there was a sheer
+descent down over the cliffs of several hundred feet to a narrow ledge
+below.
+
+“Give him another, Dick,” cried Charley. “I’m sure my last one hit him,
+but he never budged.”
+
+Dick let another stone fly and with such good effect that it struck the
+Plesiosaurus square on the back.
+
+Immediately the monster threw up its head and the water began to boil.
+
+Up came the long neck and the head was thrust angrily out of the pool.
+
+Doctor Dan, with a peculiar cry, flung his huge lasso and it dropped
+down over the monster’s head.
+
+“Pull! Pull!” shouted the Indian. “We have got him if we can only hold
+him!”
+
+Dick and Charley were at the other end of the rope and they pulled with
+all their strength, old P. D. giving out his frightful cry as the rope
+tightened about his neck.
+
+Suddenly his whole huge body rose to the surface and he darted forward
+toward the shore.
+
+The rope flew taut and snapped short off close to the post with a
+suddenness and a force which threw down Dick, Charley and Doctor Dan.
+
+Clara screamed and once more the Plesiosaurus gave its dreadful bellow.
+
+Its huge webbed feet were on the shore now and it darted its head, with
+open jaws, straight down toward Doctor Dan, who was trying to regain
+his feet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII. MUDD ON TOP AGAIN.
+
+
+Dick and Charley fully realized Dr. Dan’s danger, but what could they
+do?
+
+The dangerous attempt to snare the Plesiosaurus had not only been a
+complete failure, but a fearful mistake, for a few seconds later it
+looked as if Dr. Dan was doomed.
+
+The Plesiosaurus caught him just as it had caught Dick.
+
+It did not bite the Indian, nor even seize him in its terrible jaws, as
+one might have expected, but with lightning quickness it ran its head
+under Dr. Dan, and the next Dick and Charley knew it had him twisted
+in a fold of its long neck, and went waddling off toward the steep,
+slippery trail down the mountain.
+
+“Fire at him, boys! Fire! Save me if you can!” shouted the unfortunate
+guide.
+
+Until then the boys had just stood there dumb with the horror of the
+situation.
+
+How could they fire?
+
+Dick’s revolver had been taken from him by Martin Mudd. Charley had
+lost his coming down through the Boiling Pot. Dr. Dan himself was the
+only man who was armed.
+
+“Work yourself out! I did!” yelled Dick. “Can’t fire! Got no revolver!
+I won’t desert you, though! I’ll follow on!”
+
+The Plesiosaurus had now disappeared down the trail.
+
+It went sliding down over the slippery rocks, and now the boys were
+able to understand what made it so smooth. Probably this had been the
+monster’s path for years.
+
+“Oh, it’s terrible! Terrible!” cried Clara. “Oh, Dick! Can nothing be
+done to save that man?”
+
+“There’s his rifle now, standing against the hut!” cried Charley. “Why
+didn’t we think of it before?”
+
+Dick made a rush for the rifle, and sprang to the head of the trail.
+
+“It will do no good, anyhow, but here goes!” he cried.
+
+He fired, but with no result, just as he had anticipated.
+
+The bullet struck the monster on its scaly back and glanced off as if
+it had been fired against boiler plate.
+
+Down the steep slope the Plesiosaurus went sliding.
+
+Dr. Dan’s cries grew fainter. All gave the faithful guide up for lost.
+
+“It’s no use!” groaned Dick. “I must go after him, though. I said I
+would, and so I will!”
+
+“Oh, Dick, don’t go! Don’t go!” pleaded Clara.
+
+“For gracious sake don’t try it!” shouted Charley. “It’s all your life
+is worth, Dick!”
+
+But Dick had already started, and there was no such thing as holding
+him back.
+
+And yet if he had only known it, there was a safe and easy way down
+over those cliffs not ten yards distant from the hut.
+
+But the way Dick had taken was not only very difficult, but highly
+dangerous. It was frightfully steep, too, with scarce a foothold, and
+as smooth as glass.
+
+Down this terrible incline the Plesiosaurus slid easily enough, and no
+doubt it had come up the same way many times, its queer webbed feet
+acting as suckers like the feet of a fly.
+
+But Dick possessed no such power.
+
+He could only crouch down “on his hunkies,” as the boys say, and go
+sliding along after old P. D.
+
+What if he should overtake the monster and run into him? he could not
+help thinking; but there was no such danger, for old P. D. went faster
+than he could go by far, and yet to Dick it seemed as though he was
+sliding down with lightning speed.
+
+When he reached the level ridge below he struck it with such force that
+he went over on his face, hitting his head and knocking the wits out of
+him for the moment.
+
+The next he knew he was scrambling up trying to save himself from
+slipping over the edge of another precipice, the ground slipping away
+under his feet.
+
+Dick drew back in horror just in time to save himself.
+
+Springing aside on the firmer ground, he found himself looking down
+into a deep, narrow valley inclosed on all sides.
+
+There was a lake at the bottom of this valley, and Dick saw old P. D.
+in the act of slipping into it.
+
+The monster threw up its head as the big body sank beneath the water,
+and gave one parting bellow, and after that Dick saw him no more,
+nor did he think of him, for there lying upon the ground at no great
+distance away was Dr. Dan.
+
+Dick ran to the guide and tried to raise him up.
+
+The unfortunate man seemed to be entirely unconscious, and yet there
+was no sign of any wound upon him.
+
+Dick began to think that it was pretty well demonstrated that the
+Plesiosaurus did not feed on human flesh. The monster had just squeezed
+the life out of poor Dr. Dan and dropped him before it started on its
+second descent, that was all.
+
+Dick threw down the rifle and raised the Indian’s head, calling his
+name again and again; but Dr. Dan showed no sign of life.
+
+“Oh, he’s dead! He’s dead!” cried Dick. “What shall I do?”
+
+“Do drop him!” said a sneering voice behind him. “His name is Mud, and
+so is mine, and so is yours, too, Dick Darrell, unless you and I can
+come to terms.”
+
+There he was!
+
+The same old Martin Mudd, and there stood Tony beside him grinning.
+
+Both held revolvers, and both covered Dick as the boy slowly rose to
+his feet to face his enemies once more.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII. IS THIS STRANGE STORY TRUE?
+
+
+It was decidedly despairing.
+
+Moreover, Dick was intensely puzzled to understand how Mudd and Tony
+came to be there.
+
+The fact was Dick still had a lot to learn about the twists and turns
+of this mysterious mountain.
+
+As a matter of fact he was now on the trail leading over into the Black
+Hills, and not far from the spot where the attack had been made on
+Clara, and, if he had but known it, he was also at no great distance
+from the hut at the head of Izard Lake. There was a path known to Mudd
+and his friends leading down from the hut to the trail of which Dick
+had no knowledge at all.
+
+Both men had sobered up a bit now, and were fully able to take care
+of themselves and of Dick, too, as they soon demonstrated, for they
+pounced upon the boy, and, each catching him by an arm, hurried him
+along the trail.
+
+“Well met, my noble young scientist!” said Mudd, sneeringly. “We had
+given up all hope of finding you. Where are your friends, Master
+Charles Nicholson and Miss Clara Eglinton, just at the present time?”
+
+“Find out,” retorted Dick. “I shall tell you nothing, Mr. Mudd; so you
+may as well hold your tongue.”
+
+“Civil, upon my word,” sneered Mudd. “Did you ever hear such
+gentlemanly language, Tony? Ha! Ha! It takes these young Washington
+sprigs to come out here in the wild and woolly West and show us how to
+do it. I take it from the way you put it that they did not make a meal
+for that long-necked what-you-may-call-him, as I at first supposed.”
+
+“Mr. Mudd,” said Dick, with all the calmness he could assume, “I want
+nothing to do with you. You have captured me again, and I can’t help
+it, but if you expect to make anything out of me, let me tell you right
+now, you are going to get left.”
+
+“Indeed!” exclaimed Mudd. “My lord puts it plain. But then, you see, my
+lord does not understand the situation. Now, then, here we are. Tony,
+you go ahead and see if the boss is coming. Blow the whistle as soon as
+you catch sight of him to give me warning. I want to have my trump card
+all ready to play, and that same trump card is this boy.”
+
+“Don’t forget to play a trump card for me, boss,” growled Tony. “I
+don’t want to kick none, and I hain’t a-kicking, but it does seem to me
+of late that in all this business you are only figuring on lining your
+own pockets and leaving me out in the cold.”
+
+“Rats! Rubbish! Get along with you!” roared Mudd, with a fierce display
+of drunken anger.
+
+Tony hurried on up the trail and never said a word, while Mudd motioned
+Dick into a small cave which opened in under the cliff.
+
+Not for one instant had he failed to keep Dick covered, and to have
+attempted to escape from him would have surely meant death.
+
+“Now, sit down there, boy, and listen to me,” said Mudd, pointing to a
+big flat stone; “and before I begin to talk I’ll tell you one thing. I
+am going to shoot you dead at the first move you make toward escaping;
+do you understand?”
+
+“I do,” replied Dick. “I’m badly shaken up, Mr. Mudd. I am going to sit
+still here for a while. You might just as well put your revolver up. I
+shan’t attempt to escape.”
+
+“Come, now, that’s sensible.”
+
+“I try to be sensible at all times.”
+
+“So do I, boy. I am going to be sensible now. I’m going to try to come
+to terms with you once for all. If I fail now, I shall never try again,
+and you will probably be shot by the order of Colonel Tom Eglinton,
+whom I expect here in twenty minutes’ time.”
+
+Dick was silent. He did not know whether to believe this or not. He did
+not know what to say, so he said nothing at all.
+
+“I see you don’t believe me,” continued Mudd; “but it is true, just the
+same. I have sent for Eglinton, and he is coming down here to ransom
+his daughter. Perhaps you wonder how I dare to meet him alone, and if
+you do, look behind you. Ha! Ha! We were all drunk a while ago, but
+we are all sober enough to attend to business now. You ought to have
+finished up your work at the hut, young fellow. You and your friend,
+Doctor Dan.”
+
+There they sat in the back of the cave, the same old gang.
+
+Each man had his rifle lying across his knees; they were silent and
+motionless, but Dick saw that they were ready for business just the
+same.
+
+“Now, what do you think of that?” demanded Mudd. “Am I up and dressed
+or am I asleep? Answer me that, boy.”
+
+“Oh, what’s the use bothering to answer you?” retorted Dick. “You have
+got the big end of the stick, that’s all there is about it--go ahead.”
+
+“Very well, then,” said Mudd, dropping his voice to a whisper. “Dick
+Darrell, listen to me. You are the true owner of the Gold Queen mine.
+The claim was located by your father. It adjoins one which was worked
+out belonging to Colonel Tom Eglinton, and he made up his mind to
+join the two properties together, and when old Tom Eglinton once sets
+his heart on accomplishing a certain object I want you to understand,
+something has got to give.”
+
+“All this is old business,” said Dick, as Mudd paused for breath. “Tell
+me something new.”
+
+“That’s what I will. Tom Eglinton tried to buy your father out, but he
+wouldn’t sell. Then he hired a man to pick a quarrel with him and shoot
+him, which was done. Oh, you needn’t glare at me, Dick Darrell. It’s
+true. I’ve got the papers about me to prove it. I have papers which
+prove the mine his. I’ve got Colonel Tom’s letters to me offering me
+money to kill you. There! What do you think of that?”
+
+“Want to know?” demanded Dick.
+
+“Yes, I do.”
+
+“Well, then, I think you are the man who killed my father and----”
+
+“Oh, Dick! Dick!”
+
+It was Clara!
+
+Calling out Dick’s name she rushed into the cave, and, without the
+slightest ceremony, threw her arms about his neck, calling out:
+
+“Oh, Dick, I am so glad you are alive!”
+
+“Cool, upon my word!” cried Mudd. “By thunder, here comes the other
+one, too! What manners these city folks have!”
+
+In rushed Charley, but he halted at the sight of Mudd and the men at
+the back of the cave.
+
+“Stand there!” cried Mudd, throwing up his revolver. “You are all my
+prisoners, every one of you! Stand there where you are, or----”
+
+A sharp whistle sounded further up the trail.
+
+Was Clara’s father coming?
+
+Dick thought so as he gently disengaged the girl’s arms from about his
+neck.
+
+It was rather an awkward time to be introduced to Colonel Tom Eglinton,
+the millionaire mine owner of the Black Hills.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV. CONCLUSION.
+
+
+“Wake up there, you drunken brutes! Wake up there, and help me guard
+these boys and this girl!”
+
+Martin Mudd was in a furious rage.
+
+His crack guards were all sound asleep again.
+
+They had brought what was left of the whisky along with them, and it
+had done its work.
+
+The consequence was that Mudd, who did not dare to move to shake them
+up, was rather at his wit’s ends to know what to do.
+
+There he stood with a cocked revolver in each hand.
+
+One covered Charley and the other covered Dick.
+
+Clara was screaming out for him not to shoot, and Mudd himself was
+roaring lustily to his drunken companions, who never even stirred.
+
+Now, if anyone thinks that Dick Darrell and Charley Nicholson were the
+sort to let such a situation as this last long, they are very greatly
+mistaken.
+
+In far less time than it has taken to describe said situation the boys
+brought it to an end.
+
+Both made a rush for Mudd, utterly ignoring the revolvers.
+
+Mudd fired.
+
+The next instant Dick had him by the throat and had wrenched one
+revolver away, Mudd losing his hold on the other in the struggle which
+followed, and it fell to the ground.
+
+“Give me those papers! Throw them down, or I’ll fire!” shouted Dick,
+covering the scoundrel. “I believe on my soul you are the man who
+killed my father, and----”
+
+“Hold on! Hold on! I’ll do it!” yelled Mudd, in terror.
+
+He thrust his hand into the pocket of his coat, and, drawing out a flat
+package done up in greasy brown paper, threw it to the ground.
+
+“Oh, Dick, look at Charley! He’s shot!” screamed Clara at the same
+instant.
+
+Dick foolishly turned his head in answer to this startling cry.
+
+Poor Charley’s face was as white as a sheet; he was slowly sinking down.
+
+Clara sprang to help him, but she was too late; he fell all in a heap,
+and at the same moment Mudd closed on Dick again.
+
+He got his arm about the boy’s neck, the revolver fell to the ground,
+but Mudd never stopped to pick it up. He dragged Dick out of the
+cave--dragged him toward the edge of the precipice on the opposite side
+of the trail.
+
+“Burn you, Dick Darrell!” he hissed. “You have gone a step too far this
+time. I did kill your father, and I’ll kill you!”
+
+Bang! Bang!
+
+Two shots suddenly rang out along the trail.
+
+It was Doctor Dan.
+
+He was bare-headed and his long hair was flying in the wind.
+
+Two shots from his rifle went whizzing past Dick and Mudd.
+
+They were not aimed to hit, as Doctor Dan explained afterward. He did
+not dare to, for fear of hitting Dick.
+
+But Martin Mudd, coward that he was, had no notion of facing the Indian.
+
+He struggled to free himself, and Dick let him go.
+
+“Hold him!” cried Doctor Dan. “Don’t let him escape, Dick, or our
+troubles will never end!”
+
+It was too late.
+
+Mudd was on the run already.
+
+In his half dazed condition from the whisky he had aboard his steps
+were somewhat uncertain as he went dashing along the trail.
+
+Suddenly he staggered perilously near the edge of the precipice; the
+disintegrated rock was not able to bear his weight, and it gave way
+beneath him.
+
+Throwing up his hands with a frightful yell, Martin Mudd went rolling
+down into the valley.
+
+With bated breath Dick and Doctor Dan watched him. The end came when
+with a splash which they could just hear the wretched man dropped into
+the lake.
+
+Doubtless he was dead before he struck the water, for he never rose
+again.
+
+“Oh, Doctor! You have saved my life! But poor Charley is a goner!”
+gasped Dick. “Come--come!”
+
+A horse was pounding furiously down the trail.
+
+“Let’s hope for the best,” replied Doctor Dan. “You thought I was gone,
+but I was only winded from the terrible pressure of that brute. I knew
+when you bent over me, Dick, but I couldn’t speak, and--hello! Here’s
+another one of them. Hold on there! Hold on!”
+
+It was Tony. Down the trail he came dashing furiously.
+
+“Hold up!” he cried. “Don’t shoot. I saw Mudd go down from the heights
+above here. I’m out of it. There’s a big force coming from the Gold
+Queen!”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Two weeks later Dick Darrell stepped off of a Pullman car at the B. &
+O. depot in the city of Washington.
+
+Leaning upon his shoulder was a young man looking pale and interesting,
+who had evidently been very sick--our old friend Charley, of course.
+
+Behind him came a tall, handsome Indian dressed in ordinary clothes.
+
+Here was our party home again from the Bad Lands, and as their
+adventures were now all over, we must bring our story to a speedy
+conclusion.
+
+The arrival of the party from the Gold Queen was the work of Bill
+Struthers, the treacherous guide, who changed his mind upon arriving
+at the mine and made a clean breast of the whole affair to Colonel
+Eglinton, who immediately organized a force to go to his daughter’s
+relief.
+
+They were too late to deal with Martin Mudd, for the man had gone to
+his long account and no effort was even made to find his body. As for
+the rest, drunken men are easily captured--there was no resistance made
+at the cave.
+
+Charley was badly wounded, but Doctor Dan extracted the bullet which
+had entered his side, and the boy was able to hobble back to camp.
+
+The next day with Dick and Doctor Dan he rode to Node ranch, where he
+lay very ill for a week, but after that began to mend.
+
+Now, so far, we have not said a word about Clara, for that involves an
+explanation of a painful shock which came to the poor girl.
+
+Colonel Eglinton was not with his men, and for a very good reason.
+
+Just as the party was starting out from the Gold Queen mine Colonel
+Eglinton fell off his horse and never spoke again.
+
+He was dead--dead of heart disease which had long threatened him, and
+it was Clara’s sad task to take his body on to Washington for burial.
+
+Dick met her at Node ranch and rendered her every assistance in his
+power. He wanted to go East with her, but she would no more hear to his
+leaving Charley then than she would when Dick wanted to go with her to
+the mine when Tony first communicated his sad news.
+
+When Charley was able to be moved Doctor Dan concluded to go with the
+boys, and the day following their arrival Dick went to the Smithsonian
+with the guide and made his report.
+
+Unfortunately, however, they had nothing to show to prove the existence
+of old P. D., for even the head of the Plesiosaurus which Doctor Dan
+had found in the underground cavern had been left behind.
+
+Professor Poynter was greatly excited at the report Dick rendered, and
+we may as well tell the end of the monster business right here.
+
+A new expedition was promptly dispatched to the Bad Lands, with Dick
+and Doctor Dan in command.
+
+But disappointment awaited them. Something had happened in Dick’s
+absence. Probably it was an earthquake, but he never knew.
+
+At all events, great masses of rock had fallen down upon the trail,
+rendering it entirely impassable, and when they tried to get up to
+Izard Lake by way of the cavern the same state of affairs was found to
+exist there.
+
+Even the Gold Queen’s trail was cut off and from that day to this no
+one has ever been able to reach Izard Lake, and access to the mine is
+had by another way.
+
+Doctor Dan is still working on the problem, and some day he may find a
+way. When he does the world will doubtless be astonished to find that
+the prehistoric monster known as the Plesiosaurus still exists.
+
+A few words more and our story is done.
+
+Those papers!
+
+Dick pocketed them when he returned to the cave.
+
+Later he studied them carefully. Later still he showed them to a
+prominent lawyer in Washington. A week after that the lawyer rendered
+his report.
+
+“You are unquestionably the owner of the Gold Queen mine,” he said.
+“I’ll take up your case for you. Nine-tenths of the stock is held by
+Tom Eglinton’s estate, and his daughter is the sole heir. The mine is
+yours, young man, and we are sure to win.”
+
+“Thank you,” replied Dick. “Send me your bill and I’ll pay it. There
+will be no case.”
+
+He took the papers and threw them into the open grate fire before the
+lawyer could stay his hand.
+
+“You’re a fool, boy!” cried the lawyer, angrily.
+
+“Am I?” replied Dick. “Well, I think not.”
+
+“But----”
+
+“Wait, sir. Let me tell you a secret,” said Dick. “You say Clara
+Eglinton is the sole heir?”
+
+“She certainly is, under the will.”
+
+“Very well. I am engaged to be married to Miss Clara Eglinton, and she
+must never know that her father----”
+
+“Oh, well,” interrupted the lawyer, “that’s another matter. It will be
+all in the family. I take it back, young man--you are not a fool.”
+
+And Dick quite agrees with him now.
+
+To-day Dick is actively engaged in the mining business.
+
+So is Charley--he is superintendent at the Gold Queen.
+
+Dick was married to Clara two years ago, and, of course, he’s given up
+monster hunting since he went into the mining business.
+
+As for the Smithsonian, they will have to get someone else to look
+after old P. D., if ever the way is open, for they cannot get DICK AND
+DR. DAN.
+
+[THE END.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber’s Notes:
+
+Illustrations have been moved to paragraph breaks near where they are
+mentioned.
+
+Punctuation has been made consistent.
+
+Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
+the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have
+been corrected.
+
+The following changes were made:
+
+p. 25: said added (here,” said Dick,)
+
+p. 35: Charley changed to Dick (replied Dick. “Trouble)
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK AND DR. DAN ***
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+/* Transcriber's notes */
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+<body>
+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Dick and Dr. Dan, by C. Little</p>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
+are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
+country where you are located before using this eBook.
+</div>
+
+<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Dick and Dr. Dan</p>
+<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>Or, the boy monster hunters of the bad lands</p>
+<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: C. Little</p>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 6, 2022 [eBook #68698]</p>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>
+  <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Demian Katz, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Images courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University.)</p>
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK AND DR. DAN ***</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter illowp75" style="max-width: 100em;">
+  <img id="coverpage" class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover." />
+</div>
+
+<div style="padding-top:2em">
+<div class="transnote">
+<h2 style="margin-top: 0em">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2>
+
+<p>This novel was serialized in the <cite>Happy Days</cite> story paper from
+March 17-May 3, 1900 (issues 283-290), and it does not appear to have
+ever been published in book form.</p>
+
+<p>The cover image was created by the transcriber and placed in the public domain.</p>
+
+<p>The Table of Contents was created by the transcriber and placed
+in the public domain.</p>
+
+<p><a href="#TN_end">Additional Transcriber’s Notes</a> are at the
+end.</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr class="tb x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="boxcontents">
+<p class="xlargefont center boldfont">CONTENTS</p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Chapter I. A Mysterious Affair.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">Chapter II. Another Mystery of a Different Sort.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">Chapter III. About the Strange Head That Came Over the Rocks.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Chapter IV. Charley in Close Quarters.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">Chapter V. The Dream That Came True.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Chapter VI. Martin Mudd Hears Something Drop.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Chapter VII. Captured by Mudd.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Chapter VIII. A New Arrival from the Lake.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Chapter IX. What Monster Is Coming Now?</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">Chapter X. Exploring Around the Lake.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Chapter XI. The Letter on the Table.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Chapter XII. Into the Boiling Pot.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">Chapter XIII. The Wonderful Cavern.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">Chapter XIV. Lost Underground.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">Chapter XV. Mr. Mudd Turns Up Again.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">Chapter XVI. Martin Mudd Makes a Serious Charge.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">Chapter XVII. Caught Napping.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">Chapter XVIII. Old P. D. Looks Down Over the Rocks.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">Chapter XIX. Dick Improves His Opportunities.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">Chapter XX. The Sleeping Plesiosaurus.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">Chapter XXI. Lassoing Old P. D.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">Chapter XXII. Mudd on Top Again.</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">Chapter XXIII. Is This Strange Story True?</a></p>
+<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">Chapter XXIV. Conclusion.</a></p>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h1 class="nobreak">Dick and Dr. Dan;</h1>
+<p class="center largefont boldfont">Or, THE BOY MONSTER HUNTERS<br />
+OF THE BAD LANDS.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center xlargefont p1">By C. LITTLE.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="center p2"><span class="largefont">FRANK TOUSEY</span><br />
+24 Union Square<br />
+New York, N. Y.</p>
+
+<p class="center">1900</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[1]</span></p>
+<p class="center xxlargefont nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">Dick and Dr. Dan.</p>
+<p class="center xlargefont pminus1" style="margin-bottom:1em">By C. LITTLE.</p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER I.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">A MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“Hello, Dick! Where are you going in
+such a hurry? You must have had your
+breakfast and it isn’t dinner time yet.”</p>
+
+<p>Two boys of about eighteen years met
+unexpectedly in the little park in front of
+the United States National Museum, Washington,
+D. C.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Darrell was one and Charley Nicholson
+the other; both were in the employ of
+the paleontological department of the museum,
+their duties being to sort out and arrange
+the bones of the various prehistoric
+animals found by the agents of the museum
+in different parts of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m not after grub just now, Charley,”
+replied Dick. “Perhaps you don’t know
+that I’ve been under the weather for the
+last day or two, but such is the fact. Wasn’t
+coming down this morning, but I just received
+a telegram from old Poynter telling
+me to come at once if I was able to leave
+my bed.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hello!” cried Charley. “What’s in the
+wind now, I wonder? Have you drawn
+another prize?”</p>
+
+<p>“Can’t tell.”</p>
+
+<p>“Great Scott! I only wish it was my
+luck.”</p>
+
+<p>“Wait a bit. Perhaps I’m going to get
+the grand bounce.”</p>
+
+<p>“I hardly think that. Oh, I know! You
+are going to be sent off on some bone hunting
+expedition or another. A regular picnic.
+Something that will last all summer.
+No such luck ever comes my way.”</p>
+
+<p>“You can’t tell. Stick to your work and
+try to do it the best you possibly can; that’s
+the thing that brings promotion every
+time.”</p>
+
+<p>The boys separated inside the employees’
+door of the museum, for Charley’s duties
+called him to the extreme end of the long
+building, while Dick was bound for Professor
+Poynter’s office, on the second floor.</p>
+
+<p>That genial old scientist was at his desk
+busily writing.</p>
+
+<p>“Good morning, Dick,” he called out.
+“One minute, my boy, until I finish this
+letter; then I will talk.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick waited patiently for fully fifteen
+minutes, after which the professor folded
+up his letter and motioned to him to draw
+up a chair.</p>
+
+<p>“Dick,” he said, “we want you for another
+expedition. You did so well down among
+the fossil beds of South Carolina that we
+are disposed to try you again.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you, sir,” replied Dick. “I always
+try to do my best. What is it to be
+this time?”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, it isn’t bone hunting,” replied the
+professor, “and you will be surprised when
+I tell you what it is.”</p>
+
+<p>Professor Poynter paused and began tumbling
+over the mass of papers upon his
+desk, leaving Dick to wonder what it all
+meant.</p>
+
+<p>“I have the letter here somewhere,” he
+said, “but I don’t seem to find it. Ah, yes!
+Here it is, and here’s the newspaper cutting
+attached to it which first called our attention
+to the matter. It’s from the Cheyenne
+Herald of a month ago. Listen to this:</p>
+
+<p>“Ike Izard and Doctor Dan are in town
+again, back from a three weeks’ bone hunting
+trip in the Bad Lands. Ike seems to
+be sober—more so than usual—but he reports
+a most astonishing experience, which
+is certainly enough to make us wonder how
+heavy a supply of Cheyenne bug juice he
+and the doctor had with them on their last
+trip.</p>
+
+<p>“It seems that they started out from
+Node Ranch and went into the Bad Lands
+as far as Walker’s Creek, pretty well covering
+the central eastern section of Converse
+county; one morning, after climbing a high
+mountain—Ike declares they went up at
+least 5,000 feet—they came suddenly upon a
+lake a mile or more wide and five miles
+long, which is not down on the maps, and
+so Ike took the liberty of naming it for
+himself, Izard Lake.</p>
+
+<p>“Here they went into camp and spent
+several days, as the shores of the lake were
+well strewn with fossil bones of the sort
+they were out after.</p>
+
+<p>“On the morning of the third day Ike was
+suddenly awakened by a strange bellowing,
+which seemed to come from off on the
+water. He shook up the doctor and they
+both ran out and were nearly paralyzed
+(question is if they weren’t entirely paralyzed
+the night before) at seeing a huge
+monster swimming toward them over the
+lake, bellowing like a mad bull.</p>
+
+<p>“Ike describes it as having a huge oval
+body, rounded like a turtle, about twenty
+feet long, from which rose an immensely
+long neck—Ike declares it was half as long
+again as the body, ending in a comparatively
+small head, like a snake’s head in shape,
+but with an enormous mouth full of monstrous
+teeth.</p>
+
+<p>“Ike says that the monster swam very
+gracefully, being provided with fins, which
+acted as paddles, two on each side. He and
+the doctor each took a shot at it, but in consequence
+of their semi-paralyzed condition
+the shots did nothing more than to so scare<span class="pagenum">[2]</span>
+the creature that it took a header into the
+lake and was seen no more.</p>
+
+<p>“This is the biggest yarn Ike has given
+us yet, but he promises to think up a bigger
+one for the next trip into the Bad Lands.
+Send it along, Isaac. We shall always be
+glad to print any story that you may have
+to tell.”</p>
+
+<p>“There!” exclaimed Professor Poynter.
+“What do you think of that, Dick?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, it seems to me, sir, that somebody
+has worked up the description of the Plesiosaurus
+Dolichodeirus and made a good yarn
+about it. Of course you don’t believe the
+story can be true?”</p>
+
+<p>“Such was my first idea, of course,” replied
+the professor, “but I make it an invariable
+rule to investigate all these newspaper
+stories. Nine-tenths of them, of
+course, turn out to be fakes, but as it happens
+in this case that this fellow Izard is
+in our employ and we know him to be a
+most faithful man and entirely a sober
+person, I felt all the more interest in the
+matter, so I at once wrote him and received
+this reply.”</p>
+
+<p>Here the professor unfolded the letter
+and read as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class="ir1"><span class="smcap">Cheyenne</span>, Wyo., March 10.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>:—That story about the monster
+is true i swar it is as I hope for hiven
+i didn’t rite it to you bekos i tought you
+wood think me line but its true jest the
+same and if you don’t believe me ask Doc
+Dan who will tell you that we seen it up to
+the lake say jest fer satisfaction i am goin’
+to take my oath before a notary publick the
+thing was there i never seen nothing like
+it in all my life you couldn’t ketch it and
+there would be no use trying don’t believe a
+yoke of steers could drag the carcass down
+to Node Ranch even if you could get the
+steers up the mountain which you couldn’t.
+Mebbe it would pay you to send a feller out
+to get a snap shot at it. Yrs trooly,</p>
+
+<p class="center pminus1" style="padding-left:10em"><span class="smcap">Ike Izard</span>.</p>
+
+<p>P. S.—You can bet your bottom dollar it’s
+no lye. <span class="smcap">Ike.</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Accompanying the letter was the affidavit
+duly signed before a notary public.</p>
+
+<p>There was also one from Doctor Dan,
+who Professor Poynter explained was an
+Indian guide, who usually accompanied Ike
+Izard on his expeditions after fossil bones.</p>
+
+<p>“There,” said Professor Poynter. “There’s
+the story, Dick. It is extremely unlikely
+that it is true, but still it may be, and we
+have determined to send you out to the
+Bad Lands of Wyoming to investigate.
+When will you be ready to start?”</p>
+
+<p>“To-morrow morning,” replied Dick,
+promptly, “but let me ask one question, have
+the fossil remains of the P. Dolichodeirus
+been found in that part of the Bad Lands?”</p>
+
+<p>“Many times, my boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then it is possible that one or two specimens
+may have survived?”</p>
+
+<p>“Just possible, but no more. As you are
+well aware, this creature belongs to an entirely
+different period of the earth’s history
+from the one in which we are at present
+living. On the other hand, it is a fact that
+the lakes of eastern Wyoming are the remains
+of an old prehistoric sea which once
+covered all this section. The Great Salt
+Lake is another remnant of it and there
+are others still. The chances of the story
+being true, however, are exceedingly remote.”</p>
+
+<p>“It would be an immense discovery if it
+was, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of incalculable value to science. Should
+you be fortunate enough to make such a
+discovery you are authorized to spare no
+expense to pen the creature into some cove,
+if such a thing is possible, but we prefer
+you should not kill it. Of course if you see
+it you will telegraph me at the first possible
+moment and I will come right out. Every
+effort should be made to take it alive, in
+order that we may study its habits. You
+can go to the cashier and draw what money
+you think you may need. You will go first
+to Node Ranch, where I have instructed
+Doctor Dan to meet you; Izard himself is
+off on another expedition and you will not
+see him. That’s all, except that you will<span class="pagenum">[3]</span>
+need an assistant. I leave it to you to make
+your choice.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will Charley Nicholson suit, sir?” asked
+Dick, eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>“He is rather young,” replied the professor,
+“but still I know you are great
+friends, so I will not object. That’s all,
+Dick. Leave me now, for I have a mountain
+of work ahead of me. It won’t be necessary
+for you to call again.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick left the office, wild with enthusiasm.
+As for Charley, there was no restraining
+him when he heard the good news.</p>
+
+<p>And, indeed, the boys were admirably
+adapted to the work, Dick being without
+parents or family ties of any kind.
+Charley’s mother had long since been dead,
+while his father was a sea captain, who
+showed little or no interest in the welfare
+of his son.</p>
+
+<p>Thus these two boys were practically
+without ties and it might be supposed that
+Dick could easily have named an earlier
+hour for his departure than the next morning,
+and so he might and certainly would
+have done so if it had not happened that he
+had an engagement to attend a social gathering
+that evening at the house of one of
+his friends.</p>
+
+<p>Having drawn his money, Dick bought
+tickets for himself and Charley for Fort
+Fetterman, Wyoming, where it would be
+necessary to go off on a branch road to
+Node Ranch.</p>
+
+<p>The boys spent the afternoon in buying
+the necessary things for the trip and in
+packing up.</p>
+
+<p>At ten o’clock Dick left a certain house
+on B street, N. W., where he had passed the
+evening, and started for his own room,
+which was located on H street, a few
+squares away. As he was passing down B
+street, deeply engrossed in thought about
+the strange mission with which he had been
+charged, he saw two young girls come running
+down the stoop of a house a little way
+ahead of him.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently they lived close by, for they
+wore no wraps and the April air was damp
+and chilly.</p>
+
+<p>Dick watched them as they turned the
+corner and they would have passed out of
+his mind in a moment if he had not been
+startled all at once by a piercing scream.</p>
+
+<p>“Help! Help!” came the cry ringing out
+upon the night.</p>
+
+<p>Dick darted around the corner like a shot.
+He was certain that the cry had proceeded
+from the two girls and he was right.</p>
+
+<p>There they stood backed against the iron
+railing of the corner house, with two young
+toughs, both very drunk, standing before
+them, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>“You can’t pass us that way, ladies,” Dick
+heard one of the pair say. “We want to
+know your names and where you are going—that’s
+what.”</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_ci_ho" href="#Ref_ci">“Hands off those ladies!”</a> cried Dick, running
+up.</p>
+
+<div id="Ref_ci" class="figcenter illowp88" style="max-width: 40.625em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/cover_illo.jpg" alt="" />
+  <div class="caption"><p class="center"><a href="#Ref_ci_mo">Right in front of them,</a> not ten feet away, a huge shiny
+head, long and flat, with an enormous mouth filled with horrible teeth
+and two great, glittering eyes set on the sides, projected over the
+rocks. “The monster!” shouted Dick, and instantly the head darted
+forward, followed by a long, sinewy neck.<br />
+Inset 1: <span class="smcap"><a href="#Ref_ci_mm">Mr. Martin Mudd.</a></span><br />
+Inset 2: “<span class="smcap"><a href="#Ref_ci_ho">Hands off those Ladies.</a></span>”</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>“Mind your own business,” snarled one
+of the “lushers,” aiming a blow at Dick.
+“What is it to you?”</p>
+
+<p>“This!” cried Dick, striking out from the
+shoulder and landing his fist between the
+fellow’s eyes, tumbling him back against
+the electric light pole.</p>
+
+<p>The fellow gave a yell, reeled and fell
+over in the gutter, while the other one
+jumped in and caught Dick by the throat.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll kill you for this!” he hissed, whipping
+out a long knife and flourishing it
+around the neighborhood of Dick’s heart, as
+he backed him up against the post.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">ANOTHER MYSTERY OF A DIFFERENT SORT.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Dick was in a dangerous fix.</p>
+
+<p>The fellow who had caught hold of him
+was very drunk and had a grip like a vise.</p>
+
+<p>The two girls screamed, while Dick tried
+to grab the knife which the “lusher” kept
+flourishing, swearing horribly at Dick all
+the while.</p>
+
+<p>How it would have ended if help had
+not come promptly it is impossible to say,
+but, as it happened, just at this critical moment
+a man came dashing around the corner.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[4]</span></p>
+
+<p>He was a tall and very thin person, shabbily
+dressed in an old ulster and a battered
+plug hat.</p>
+
+<p>He seemed to take in the situation at a
+glance and pounced upon the “lusher” without
+ceremony, wrenching away the knife
+and flinging it into the street, pounding
+the fellow about the head and face with
+such vigor that he promptly took to his
+heels and made off, followed by his friend.</p>
+
+<p>“There!” exclaimed the man in the ulster.
+“There! That’s the way to do it! Ladies,
+your most obedient! Let me see, have I not
+the pleasure of addressing Miss Clara Eglinton?
+Ah, yes. I thought so. Miss E.,
+your humble servant. Yours, too, Miss
+What’s-your-name, and yours, my dear sir.
+My name is Mudd. <a id="Ref_ci_mm" href="#Ref_ci">Martin Mudd</a>. I am
+always ready and willing to come to the assistance
+of any one in distress.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sure I’m ever so much obliged, sir,”
+replied Dick. “My name is Darrell. Dick
+Darrell, I——”</p>
+
+<p>What was the matter with Martin Mudd?</p>
+
+<p>The instant Dick announced his name he
+started back theatrically, stared, raised his
+hat to the two girls, and, wheeling about,
+turned the corner and disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>“Is he crazy? He must be!” exclaimed
+Dick.</p>
+
+<p>“No, I don’t think so,” replied the girl
+addressed as Clara Eglinton, a beautiful
+blonde of about Dick’s own age. “He is
+very eccentric, though. He sometimes has
+business with my father. Oh, Mr. Darrell,
+I want to thank you ever and ever so much
+for your brave act. Those insulting fellows!
+It was just dreadful! I don’t know
+what Susie and I would have done if you
+had not come.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sure I’m most happy to have been
+of service to you,” replied Dick, raising his
+hat. “May I offer to see you to your
+home?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, it is right here in the next house,”
+replied the girl. “Good night, Mr. Darrell.
+We must go in.”</p>
+
+<p>Evidently Miss Eglinton did not care to
+pursue the acquaintance.</p>
+
+<p>Dick tipped his hat again and the two
+girls ran up the stoop of a handsome house
+and vanished in an instant, leaving Dick to
+continue his walk.</p>
+
+<p>“A pretty girl!” he murmured. “A very
+pretty girl. I only wish I was going to
+stay in Washington. I might find a chance
+to get better acquainted, but I suppose she
+will forget all about me before I return.”</p>
+
+<p>He walked on, wholly oblivious to the
+fact that Mr. Martin Mudd, with rubbers
+on his feet, was stealing after him, staring
+forward with gleaming eyes.</p>
+
+<p>What prompted Dick to turn suddenly
+and look behind him just before he reached
+the next corner?</p>
+
+<p>Surely there must have been some good
+angel watching over the boy, for there was
+the man close behind him with the very
+knife the “lusher” had dropped clutched
+in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>“Now I’ve got you, Dick Darrell!” he
+hissed, and he made a desperate lunge at
+the boy, who dodged the stroke just in time.</p>
+
+<p>Martin Mudd did not attempt to repeat
+it. With a sharp cry he turned and ran
+like a deer.</p>
+
+<p>Dick shouted after him and followed back
+along the block, but the man turned the
+corner first and when Dick got around he
+had disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>And that was the end of the adventure.</p>
+
+<p>Deeply puzzled over the mysterious affair
+which he could only attribute to insanity
+on the part of the man with the
+muddy name, Dick went home and was soon
+in bed, where he lay tossing wide awake until
+morning.</p>
+
+<p>It was the tone in which Martin Mudd
+had spoken his name and the start he had
+given when Dick first introduced himself
+that bothered the boy.</p>
+
+<p>“He certainly seemed to know me,” Dick
+said to himself a hundred times. “What
+can it all mean?”</p>
+
+<p>He gave up thinking about it when morning
+came and hurried to the B. &amp; O. station,
+where he met Charley all ready for the
+journey.</p>
+
+<p>The run to Chicago was made in good
+time and without adventure.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[5]</span></p>
+
+<p>There was no stop here, except to change
+cars, and the next thing the boys knew
+they were in Omaha, where they took the
+Union Pacific to Cheyenne and then ran up
+to Fort Fetterman, changed cars again and
+in due time were set down on a barren,
+alkali plain, where there was a station, a
+windmill, a water tank and a dozen houses—they
+had reached Node Ranch at last.</p>
+
+<p>The boys went at once to the Palace
+Hotel, which proved to be a dirty old roost
+of the worst kind.</p>
+
+<p>“Heavens!” exclaimed Charley; “if we
+had to stay here long I should give up the
+ghost.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick felt about the same way, but as it
+happened they did not have to stay at the
+Palace at all, for they had scarcely located
+themselves in their room and Dick was just
+getting ready to go out and look for Doctor
+Dan, when all at once there was a knock
+on the door and when Charley opened it
+there stood a tall Indian dressed in an ordinary
+business suit, with nothing to distinguish
+him from a white man except his
+features and his long black hair.</p>
+
+<p>“I want to see Dick Darrell,” he said,
+without a trace of accent. “Are you the
+young man?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; this is Dick Darrell,” replied
+Charley, pointing to his friend. “Come in.”</p>
+
+<p>The Indian entered the room with solemn
+tread and an expression of imperturbable
+gravity upon his swarthy face.</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose this is Doctor Dan!” exclaimed
+Dick, extending his hand. “I’m
+glad to see you, I’m sure.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s how,” replied the Indian, “I was
+ordered to meet you here by Professor
+Poynter.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s right.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m ordered to take you up into the Bad
+Lands to Izard Lake,” continued Doctor
+Dan, slowly. “The horses are all ready,
+likewise the pack mules, of which there
+are two. Provision I have laid in enough
+to last a month. I have three rifles and two
+guns. I have blankets and two tents and
+cooking utensils. If there is anything more
+you wish I will procure it if it is to be had
+in Node Ranch.”</p>
+
+<p>The deliberateness with which he spoke
+was almost ludicrous. It was all the boys
+could do to suppress their smiles.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, I should say you had got everything
+we could possibly need,” said Dick.
+“You speak as good English as I do, doctor.
+Are you a half-breed?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, sir, I am not,” replied Doctor Dan,
+in the same slow way. “I am a full blooded
+Sioux, but I was adopted by a rancher
+when I was a little boy and I was educated
+at Carlisle College, Pennsylvania, an institution
+for the education of Indian youths,
+of which you have doubtless heard.”</p>
+
+<p>Poor Dick was almost overpowered. As
+for Charley, he had to go out in the passage
+and explode or he would have laughed in
+Doctor Dan’s face.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I’m sure I’m much obliged to you
+for doing everything up in such good
+shape,” said Dick. “When do we start?”</p>
+
+<p>“Right away after dinner if you follow
+my advice,” was the reply. “We have got
+a long road before us. It will take us three
+days to reach the foot of the mountain. If
+you are anxious to get to work, as I take it
+you are, there is no time to lose.”</p>
+
+<p>“I certainly am,” said Dick, “so we will
+go at once. Charley and I will be ready
+say at one o’clock.”</p>
+
+<p>“At one o’clock,” repeated Doctor Dan,
+solemnly. “That is an engagement. I will
+keep it. Good day.”</p>
+
+<p>“What about the monster?” asked Dick.
+“You saw it, I believe.”</p>
+
+<p>“I did. It is there,” replied Doctor Dan.</p>
+
+<p>“Can you describe it?”</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan entered into a most accurate
+description of the Plesiosaurus. It seemed
+hard to imagine that he was lying and
+Dick’s hope was greatly aroused.</p>
+
+<p>“It will be the making of us, Charley,”
+he remarked, as they went in to dinner a
+little later, after Doctor Dan had left the
+hotel.</p>
+
+<p>“Gentlemen, did you register?” called the
+clerk from behind the desk.</p>
+
+<p>“No,” replied Dick, turning back.</p>
+
+<p>“Then please do. It’s the law and we
+have to trouble you.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick took up the pen and was about to
+sign his name to the register when he suddenly
+gave a quick start.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the matter?” asked Charley.</p>
+
+<p>“Look!” exclaimed Dick, pointing to the
+name written on the line above where he
+was about to write his own.</p>
+
+<p>The name, written in a bold, firm hand,
+was <span class="smcap">Martin Mudd</span>.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">ABOUT THE STRANGE HEAD THAT CAME OVER THE ROCKS.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“Strange!” whispered Charley, as Dick
+signed the register. “There could hardly
+be two with such a name.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick had told Charley all about his adventure,
+of course.</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t see how it can be the same man,”
+he said, “but we’ll soon find out. Do you
+know that gentleman?” he asked the clerk,
+pointing to the name.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, I know him,” was the reply. “He
+came in by the westbound train this morning.
+He used to live here. Why do you
+ask?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[6]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Because I met him in Washington only
+a few days ago. Is he in the hotel now?”</p>
+
+<p>“No,” replied the clerk. “He bought a
+horse and went off up into the mountains.
+He’s a mining prospector. If you should
+happen to meet him I advise you strongly
+to give him the cold shoulder. He’s a bad
+lot.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is he crazy?” asked Dick.</p>
+
+<p>“Not he!” exclaimed the clerk. “He’s a
+big liar, though, and a thief from way back,
+but he’s well educated and can talk almost
+as well as Doctor Dan.”</p>
+
+<p>“What about Doctor Dan?” asked
+Charley. “Is he all right?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, you can bank on him every time,
+even if he is an Indian. Queer feller, isn’t
+he? They say he’s got a lot of education,
+but an Injun’s an Injun wherever you
+strike him, that’s sure.”</p>
+
+<p>Having delivered himself of this sentiment
+the clerk wrote the room number
+after the boys’ names and Dick and Charley
+went in to dinner, which was much better
+than they expected to find.</p>
+
+<p>At one o’clock precisely the start was
+made, Doctor Dan appearing on the scene
+with the horses and mules.</p>
+
+<p>All the rest of the afternoon the ride continued.</p>
+
+<p>Their way led over a barren plain overgrown
+with sage brush and strewn with
+the white alkali of the country.</p>
+
+<p>High mountains rose in the far distance.
+Doctor Dan informed the boys that they
+skirted the edge of the Bad Lands.</p>
+
+<p>When night came on a halt was made and
+Doctor Dan put up the tents in the most
+expert manner, hobbling the horses and
+cooking a splendid supper of antelope steak
+and a sort of cornbread, which he rolled
+out on a flat stone and cooked in round
+balls among the hot ashes.</p>
+
+<p>After supper the boys rolled themselves
+up in their blankets and slept comfortably
+until morning, Doctor Dan going on guard.</p>
+
+<p>He informed the boys that he was accustomed
+to going three or four days at a
+stretch without sleep and that they would
+not be called upon to mount guard at night
+until they reached the lake and probably
+not then unless they found some special
+cause for alarm.</p>
+
+<p>The second day’s journey resembled the
+first too closely to need description. When
+they went into camp that night they could
+see beyond them a stretch of country which
+appeared to be one mass of great sand hills
+which rose in every direction.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan informed them that this was
+the beginning of the Bad Lands.</p>
+
+<p>“Those sand hills run away over into
+South Dakota for more than a hundred
+miles,” he declared. “It’s a terrible country.
+Not a drop of water anywhere. There
+is nothing like it in the whole world.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick and Charley were all anxiety to see
+it and within a very short time after they
+started out next morning their wish was
+gratified, for they found themselves in the
+midst of the sand hills steadily advancing
+toward an isolated peak, which Doctor Dan
+informed them was their destination.</p>
+
+<p>It was a fearful country surely. As far
+as the eye could reach the sand hills rose
+all around them, with not a tree nor a blade
+of grass visible anywhere.</p>
+
+<p>Later in the day they began to ascend
+and at last came out upon a broad table
+land, a mere desert of yellow sand, broken
+by great rifts called barrancas in every direction.
+It required an artist to work
+around these breaks, but Doctor Dan
+seemed to be perfectly acquainted with the
+trail, although he declared that he had
+never visited this part of the Bad Lands,
+excepting on his previous trip.</p>
+
+<p>The mountain was now steadily drawing
+nearer, and by four o’clock they reached
+its base without having seen the slightest
+sign of life of any kind since they entered
+the Bad Lands.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, then, where does the lake lie?”
+asked Dick, looking up at the towering
+cliffs of reddish, disintegrated stone which
+rose above them.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s in that direction, about a thousand
+feet up,” replied Doctor Dan, pointing.</p>
+
+<p>“Can we ride up?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, yes. There’s an easy trail. It’s almost
+like a road, but it winds about a good
+deal.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then we go right on and camp there?”</p>
+
+<p>“Just as you say, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“I say yes, by all means, providing it is a
+good place for our camp.”</p>
+
+<p>“It is quite as good as it is here. Better,
+in fact, for the lake lies in a sort of natural
+basin and if we should happen to get a
+snowstorm, which we may, we would be
+protected.”</p>
+
+<p>“We will go right on, then,” said Charley.
+“Hadn’t we better, Dick?”</p>
+
+<p>“Decidedly,” replied Dick. “We can get
+our permanent camp all fixed up before
+dark.”</p>
+
+<p>The ascent then began. As they passed
+up the mountainside with no trees to obstruct
+their view, the boys were amazed at
+the wonderful panorama displayed.</p>
+
+<p>It was as if they were looking down upon
+a sea of sand, and it was easy to imagine it
+the bed of some old, vanished ocean, as
+scientists tell us the Bad Lands actually
+are.</p>
+
+<p>For half an hour the horses toiled up
+the steep slope, first to the right, then to
+the left, but always rising until at last they
+came suddenly out upon a level plain, entirely
+surrounded by towering cliffs, except<span class="pagenum">[7]</span>
+for the narrow break through which
+they entered.</p>
+
+<p>“The crater of an old volcano!” cried
+Dick. “That’s what this place is sure.”</p>
+
+<p>“So I have been informed,” replied Doctor
+Dan, with his usual gravity.</p>
+
+<p>“Where’s the lake?” asked Charley.</p>
+
+<p>“Just around that bend in the cliffs,”
+was the reply. “This sink is double, as
+you may say. The wall runs pretty near
+through the middle of it. One half is dry
+and the lake fills the other half. We shall
+see it in a minute now.”</p>
+
+<p>They rode on and soon turned the corner
+of the dividing cliff.</p>
+
+<p>A broad stretch of water now lay before
+them. The lake was many times longer
+than the dry half of the old crater.</p>
+
+<p>Its surface was perfectly placid and the
+water seemed to give out a strange, sulphurous
+odor. The shores were broken by
+projecting points of rocks, which cut up
+the lake into many small coves.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, where’s your Plesiosaurus?” exclaimed
+Charley. “Let him show himself.
+He’s got an audience that will appreciate
+him, you bet.”</p>
+
+<p>“It was right over there abreast that
+little island that I first saw him,” said Doctor
+Dan, gravely. “His body reached almost
+to that point of rocks on the opposite
+shore. I hope you don’t think it is all a
+fake, boys, but I suppose you will never
+believe it until you see for yourselves.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s what we are here for,” replied
+Dick, “and it is no reflection on you, doctor,
+if we find it hard work to believe what we
+have not seen, but where do we make our
+camp?”</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan pointed out the spot where
+he and Ike Izard had camped and there,
+sure enough, the boys found traces of a
+fire and other things which seemed to prove
+his story true.</p>
+
+<p>The horses were now hobbled and the
+tents pitched.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Dan cooked supper in his usual fine
+style and everything was arranged for the
+night.</p>
+
+<p>When the supper was over, as it was not
+yet dark, Dick proposed a walk, and all
+three, shouldering their rifles, for there
+was no telling what might happen, started
+along the lake shore, winding in and out
+around the projecting cliffs until they had
+gone at least a mile.</p>
+
+<p>It was now getting toward dusk and
+Dick, in spite of his hopes, began to abandon
+all idea of seeing anything of the monster
+of the lake that day.</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose we might wait around here for
+days and not see him,” he said. “Wonder
+how long a Plesiosaurus can stay down
+under the water, anyhow?”</p>
+
+<p>“Is it known?” asked Doctor Dan.</p>
+
+<p>“Certainly not, since only their bones
+have been found,” replied Charley, “but it
+must be an air breathing animal or it
+couldn’t have swum round with its head
+above the water the way you saw it.”</p>
+
+<p>“If that’s the case he must come up every
+little while,” said Dick.</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know,” answered Doctor Dan.
+“We stayed round here two days after we
+saw the thing, but it never showed itself
+again. I’ve got a theory about that, but I
+don’t suppose you young men care to hear
+my views.”</p>
+
+<p>“Indeed we do,” cried Dick. “Out with
+it, doctor.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why,” replied the Indian, “my idea is
+that this lake connects with another, which
+is hidden underground, and that the Plesiosaurus
+makes its home down there and so
+gets all the air it needs without coming to
+the surface at all.”</p>
+
+<p>“And a very plausible theory it is,” said
+Dick. “I was thinking——”</p>
+
+<p>Right here Dick was interrupted by a
+wild cry from Charley.</p>
+
+<p>“Look there! Look there!” he shouted,
+pointing to the rocks right in front of them,
+which concealed the entrance to another
+cove.</p>
+
+<p>Dick and Dr. Dan grasped their rifles and
+started back in terror.</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_ci_mo" href="#Ref_ci">Right in front of them,</a> not ten feet away,
+a huge, shiny head, long and flat, with an
+enormous mouth filled with horrible teeth
+and two great, glittering eyes set on the
+sides, projected over the rocks.</p>
+
+<p>“The monster!” shouted Dick, and instantly
+the head darted forward, followed
+by a long, sinewy neck as big round as a
+man’s body.</p>
+
+<p>The horrid jaws opened and closed with
+a vicious snap and a frightful bellow rang
+out among the rocks.</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[8]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">CHARLEY IN CLOSE QUARTERS.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“Fire!” shouted Charley, and he instantly
+flung up his rifle and let fly at the huge,
+snake-like head, which was withdrawn instantly.</p>
+
+<p>The bellowing was heard on the other
+side of the rocks for a moment and then
+all was still.</p>
+
+<p>“What in thunder did you do that for?”<span class="pagenum">[9]</span>
+Dick burst out. “Don’t you know the orders?
+On no account were we to kill the
+creature. By thunder, if you have killed it
+I am disgraced forever. I wouldn’t have
+had it happen so for a thousand dollars.
+How could you be such a fool?”</p>
+
+<p>Poor Charley stood abashed.</p>
+
+<p>It was a terrible thing to him to be so
+called down by Dick, but he had allowed his
+excitement to make him play the fool and
+he knew it.</p>
+
+<p>“Dick, excuse me, please,” was all he said,
+and then he turned and walked away.</p>
+
+<p>Dick was too angry for the moment to
+follow him or call him back. He had more
+to say about it and he spat it right out before
+Doctor Dan.</p>
+
+<p>“Softly, softly, sir,” replied the half-breed.
+“Don’t be too hard on Mr. Charley.
+He was excited and acted before he had
+time to think; besides, I don’t think he hit
+the head or the neck either. Come, we’ll
+see.”</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan started to go around the
+rocks. Dick began to feel a little ashamed
+of his violence.</p>
+
+<p>“Come, Charley,” he shouted. “Come on,
+old man. Maybe you didn’t hit the Plesiosaurus
+after all.”</p>
+
+<p>But Charley continued to walk in the direction
+of the camp and never even looked
+back at Dick.</p>
+
+<p>He was a very sensitive fellow and easily
+offended. Dick knew this and felt a good
+deal troubled.</p>
+
+<p>He wanted to follow Charley up and
+make it all right with him, but then, on the
+other hand, he did not like to leave Doctor
+Dan to face the danger of meeting the Plesiosaurus
+alone.</p>
+
+<p>“Come on! Come on!” he shouted again.
+“Don’t be grumpy, Charley. I’m going to
+see what mischief has been done.”</p>
+
+<p>But as Charley paid no attention to his
+shout he gave it up for the moment and
+hurried around the rocks into another cove,
+where Dr. Dan stood looking off on the
+lake.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[10]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I don’t see anything of the monster, Mr.
+Darrell,” he said. “It must have pulled
+down into the water again.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t bother to call me Mr. Darrell.
+Call me Dick. Here’s where it must have
+been. The water is very deep right up
+against the shore, isn’t it? Of course this
+is the place.”</p>
+
+<p>Here the space between the rocks and the
+water was not more than three feet in
+width.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[11]</span></p>
+
+<p>It would have been an easy matter for
+the monster to have thrown his head and
+neck over the rocks, which were not more
+than a dozen feet high above the water, but
+there was no trace of the Plesiosaurus to be
+seen now.</p>
+
+<p>“Do you suppose he hit him, Doc?” asked
+Dick, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>“No, I don’t,” was the reply. “We should
+see blood here somewhere if he had, and
+there is none.”</p>
+
+<p>“Anyhow, the shot must have sent the
+monster down under the water again. It’s
+too bad, too bad.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I don’t know,” said Dr. Dan. “It
+seems to me that it’s about all right. You
+couldn’t have done anything anyway.
+You’ve seen the thing with your own eyes
+now, Dick. You can’t accuse me of lying
+any more.”</p>
+
+<p>“I never did,” replied Dick. “It was
+hard to believe that one of these strange
+creatures had survived, for they belong to
+the animal creation of one of the most distant
+prehistoric periods, but seeing is believing,
+so no more need be said about it.
+Question now is what’s to be done?”</p>
+
+<p>“Your orders are to take the monster
+alive if possible?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, and to telegraph Professor Poynter
+at once if I caught a sight of it.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s impossible. We can’t pull up
+stakes and go back to Node Ranch without
+accomplishing more than we have already.
+It would be ridiculous.”</p>
+
+<p>“It seems so to me. I didn’t give it any
+thought at the time I received my instructions,
+but I see it now.”</p>
+
+<p>“Probably Professor Poynter gave it no
+thought, either. What you want to do is to
+hold on here a week or so and try and
+find out what the habits of this creature
+are. When we know more about it we can
+come to some conclusion as to what we
+ought to do, which is more than we can
+now.”</p>
+
+<p>“You are right,” said Dick, “and that’s
+what we will do; but I must get back to the<span class="pagenum">[12]</span>
+camp. It isn’t going to pay us to quarrel.
+I shall have to apologize to Charley for the
+calling down I gave him.”</p>
+
+<p>“And I’ll keep on around the lake,” replied
+Doctor Dan. “You and Charley can
+follow me up after you settle your quarrel.”</p>
+
+<p>They separated then and Dick hurried
+back to the camp, feeling very sorry for his
+explosion and full of anxiety to make matters
+right with his friend.</p>
+
+<p>But when he reached the camp Charley
+was nowhere visible. Dick looked into the
+tent, and, not finding him there, set up a
+shout, a private cry of their own, which
+ought to have been answered by a different
+shout. It was just a little signal between
+the boys agreed upon before they started
+for the Bad Lands.</p>
+
+<p>Much to Dick’s relief, the answer came
+promptly from around the point of rocks
+beyond the camp.</p>
+
+<p>“Hello, Charley, are you there?” shouted
+Dick.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. Come around here, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick started on the run; as soon as he
+turned the point of rocks he saw, to his
+surprise, that Charley had pulled off his<span class="pagenum">[13]</span>
+clothes and was swimming around in the
+lake.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently he had got over his “mad,” for
+he called out:</p>
+
+<p>“Hey, Dick, this is bully. The water is
+just splendid. Come on and have a swim.”</p>
+
+<p>“Come out of there! Come out at once!”
+cried Dick. “Good heavens, suppose the
+Plesiosaurus catches you! Charley, you
+must be crazy to do such a thing.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, it’s all right,” replied Charley, turning
+on his back and kicking up the water.
+“I was just dying for a bath and I made up
+my mind I’d have one anyhow. When I
+get mad I always want to get in the water
+and cool down. That’s me. Come on and
+try it, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick was strongly tempted. He stood
+looking at Charley for a moment and then,
+throwing aside his coat, began to take off
+his boots.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sorry I spoke so rough to you,
+Charley,” he called out. “I won’t do it
+again.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, that’s all right. I ought not to have
+fired, of course, but you see I was excited
+and—oh, thunder! What’s this?”</p>
+
+<p>The water all around Charley suddenly
+began boiling like a pot.</p>
+
+<p>“Quick! Quick! Strike in for the shore!”
+yelled Dick.</p>
+
+<p>At the same instant the Plesiosaurus rose
+to the surface of the lake right behind
+Charley.</p>
+
+<p>First the huge snake-like head was lifted
+up high in the air, the sinuous neck, which
+seemed to be at least ten feet long, turning
+and twisting horribly.</p>
+
+<p>Then the enormous body came into view,
+long, rounding and black and extending
+back twenty feet or more from the base of
+the neck.</p>
+
+<p><a id="Ref_i2_oh" href="#Ref_i2">“Oh, Dick! Help!”</a> yelled Charley, swimming
+with all his might for the shore.</p>
+
+<p>At the same instant the strange creature
+craned its neck forward and made a quick
+dart for the boy.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[15]</span></p>
+
+<p>Dick flung up his rifle and fired straight
+at the monster’s head.</p>
+
+<div id="Ref_i2" class="figcenter illowp89" style="max-width: 40.625em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/i2.jpg" alt="" />
+  <div class="caption"><p class="center"><a href="#Ref_i2_oh">“OH, DICK! HELP!”</a> YELLED CHARLEY, SWIMMING WITH ALL HIS MIGHT FOR THE SHORE. AT THE SAME INSTANT THE
+STRANGE CREATURE CRANED ITS NECK FORWARD AND MADE A QUICK DART FOR THE BOY. DICK
+FLUNG UP HIS RIFLE AND FIRED STRAIGHT AT THE MONSTER’S HEAD.<br />
+Inset: <span class="smcap"><a href="#Ref_i2_ca">Dick captured by the Monster.</a></span></p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">THE DREAM THAT CAME TRUE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>It was a frightful moment for Dick, and
+worse, of course, for poor Charley, who
+barely escaped being caught in the awful
+jaws of the Plesiosaurus.</p>
+
+<p>Dick’s shot saved his friend, however.</p>
+
+<p>Not that the monster was hit—Dick knew
+that he had made a miss—but the report
+of the rifle seemed to startle it, and, with
+that same awful bellow, it arched its neck
+like a swan and sank beneath the lake, to be
+seen no more.</p>
+
+<p>Charley came crawling up out of the
+water half dead with terror.</p>
+
+<p>It was some time before Dick recovered
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>Charley dressed and they stood side by
+side discussing the situation and watching
+the lake.</p>
+
+<p>“We are even now, Charley,” said Dick.
+“We have both broken orders and fired at
+the Plesiosaurus. I suppose if we are going
+to keep on seeing the creature we shall get
+used to him in time, but, upon my word,
+he’s the strangest looking citizen I ever
+laid my eyes on, that’s one sure thing.”</p>
+
+<p>“A regular nightmare,” said Charley.
+“Come, let’s look up Doctor Dan. He must
+have heard the firing and is no doubt wondering
+what it means.”</p>
+
+<p>The guide came running up before they
+were out of the cove.</p>
+
+<p>“So you have been firing at him again!”
+he exclaimed. “You are bound to kill him
+it seems.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m the one this time,” said Dick, and he
+told the story.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, well! That settles the question!”
+exclaimed Dr. Dan. “The monster is real—it
+is very much alive—it is ready any time
+to make a meal of one of us. We want to
+look out.”</p>
+
+<p>“I move we make the circuit of the lake,”
+said Charley.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, you can’t do it unless we get the
+boat out,” replied Dr. Dan. “I was brought
+up short by the rocks not a great way beyond
+the place where I left you, Dick. I
+suggest we stay right where we are and
+watch.”</p>
+
+<p>The boat was a rubber affair, which Dick
+did not feel much confidence in, and with
+the recollection of what had just occurred
+fresh in his mind, he did not feel very anxious
+to venture out upon the lake, so the remainder
+of the day was spent along the
+shore, but the wary old antediluvian monster
+did not show itself again.</p>
+
+<p>Night came down upon them at last. Doctor
+Dan cooked another of his capital suppers,
+which the boys enjoyed to the fullest
+extent, and about nine o’clock they rolled
+themselves up in their blankets and went to
+sleep, Doctor Dan promising to stand guard
+till midnight.</p>
+
+<p>“If I don’t see anything startling by that
+time I’ll turn in without disturbing you,”
+he said. “Really, boys, I see no necessity
+for keeping watch here.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[16]</span></p>
+
+<p>But there was a necessity far greater
+than Doctor Dan knew, and it would have
+been much wiser to have kept guard until
+they had studied the habits of the Plesiosaurus
+a bit.</p>
+
+<p>Dick remembered waking up when the
+half-breed lay down beside him, but it was
+only for a moment. Then he dropped off
+into a deep sleep again and began to dream.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed to him that he had drifted far
+back in point of time to the days when the
+Bad Lands were in their original position,
+at the bottom of that old prehistoric sea
+which is known to have covered all this
+part of Wyoming at one time.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed to Dick that he was alone in
+the rubber boat paddling for all he was
+worth, trying to make the little island
+which they had seen in the lake, and that
+he was in a big hurry about it, for the reason
+that Miss Clara Eglinton stood upon the
+shore of the island calling to him to come
+and save her. What she feared was clear
+enough, too, for there right behind her,
+stealing out of the bushes, was the man
+Martin Mudd, clutching a long, glittering
+knife in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>So ran the dream and it was most fearfully
+vivid. Dick thought that he shouted
+to Clara to throw herself into the lake and
+he would pick her up in the boat, for it
+seemed certain that he could not reach the
+shore in time.</p>
+
+<p>Clara did so and Dick threw all his
+strength into the paddling and was getting
+along over the water with great rapidity,
+when all at once the surface of the lake began
+to boil like a pot and the Plesiosaurus
+rose right alongside of the boat, made a
+dart at him with its awful head and as
+Clara screamed, instead of catching him in
+its jaws, the creature wound its neck about
+his body and lifted him high in the air.</p>
+
+<p>Dick yelled for all he was worth—actually
+yelled—awoke to find himself yelling
+and it was no nightmare, either, for
+<a id="Ref_i2_ca" href="#Ref_i2">something thick and slimy was twisted
+around his body</a> and he was drawn out of
+the tent, still wrapped in his blanket, all
+like a flash.</p>
+
+<p>It was awful. Above him he could see
+the head of the monster plainly, for it was
+bright moonlight; he put out his hands
+and tried to tear himself free from that
+awful thing, which held him captive.</p>
+
+<p>It was wet and slimy; looking down he
+could see the huge body of the Plesiosaurus
+dragging itself over the ground and then
+all at once Charley and Doctor Dan came
+running out of the tent shouting.</p>
+
+<p>Charley was empty handed, but the half-breed
+had his rifle and let fly at the monster.</p>
+
+<p>The bullet struck it in the side and
+glanced off as though it had hit a rock.</p>
+
+<p>The next Dick knew the Plesiosaurus
+slid into the lake and pulled its neck down,
+the water closing over poor Dick as Doctor
+Dan sent another shot flying from the
+shore.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">MARTIN MUDD HEARS SOMETHING DROP.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Dick gave himself up for lost. The whole
+thing had struck him so suddenly that he
+had scarcely time to realize what it all
+meant when he was in the lake, half
+crushed in the sinuous folds of that awful
+neck.</p>
+
+<p>But a change was close at hand.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Dan’s second bullet struck the monster
+on the neck, just below the head.</p>
+
+<p>What damage it did it is impossible to
+say, but it must have caused the creature
+some pain, for it instantly unwound itself
+from Dick’s body, the neck twisting and
+turning like a boa constrictor’s; all in an
+instant Dick found himself free, for the
+blanket was unwound by the twisting of
+the Plesiosaurus and Dick, in his shirt and
+trousers and stocking feet, swam away for
+dear life.</p>
+
+<p>The Plesiosaurus made no attempt to
+reach out for him apparently, or, if it did,
+Dick knew nothing about it, but he swam
+on, possessed of the horrible fear of feeling
+those great teeth dug into his legs.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing of the sort happened, but something
+else did, almost as serious.</p>
+
+<p>Before he knew it Dick found himself
+suddenly caught in some undercurrent
+which seemed to draw him along with
+frightful rapidity down deeper and deeper
+into the lake.</p>
+
+<p>Dick was a splendid swimmer—it would
+have been difficult to find a better one in a
+boy of his age.</p>
+
+<p>He tried to turn aside out of the current
+to rise to the surface—to do anything to
+escape that awful suction, but it was all no
+use.</p>
+
+<p>Naturally he gave himself up for lost and
+he surely would have been if relief had not
+come in a moment, for all at once Dick’s
+head came up out of the water, although he
+had sunk to a great depth.</p>
+
+<p>But the suction continued and the current
+ran just as swiftly.</p>
+
+<p>It was pitch dark. Dick could not make
+out where he was, but the rushing of the
+water seemed to be echoed back from rocks,
+which were close at hand, so he assumed
+that he must be in some cave.</p>
+
+<p>On he flew—on—on for fully ten minutes.
+He had thrown himself on his back now
+and was resting comfortably enough, but,
+try all he would, he could not turn out of<span class="pagenum">[17]</span>
+that terrible current, for he was in the
+subterranean outlet of the lake, one of those
+underground streams often found in the
+far West.</p>
+
+<p>Dick had read enough about them to
+realize the situation, and as he knew perfectly
+well that many of these underground
+streams never come to the surface, the prospect
+was anything but encouraging.</p>
+
+<p>All at once the strength of the current
+seemed to slacken—a little further on it
+grew less still until at last there was scarcely
+any movement at all and just then, to his
+great joy, Dick caught sight of a patch of
+moonlight striking across the water on
+ahead, which showed him the black, dripping
+walls of the cave.</p>
+
+<p>“There’s an opening there,” he thought.
+“I’m saved if I can only get through it. I
+must. If it isn’t big enough to let me
+through I shall give up in despair.”</p>
+
+<p>His heart almost stood still as he thought
+of this new danger, but he swam on and in
+a moment was crawling through a narrow
+opening, which brought him out upon a
+ledge of rock under some towering cliffs,
+where he sank down too much exhausted to
+hold his head up, and lay so for several moments,
+when all at once he was aroused by
+hearing a voice below him say:</p>
+
+<p>“They are coming! I can see them. It’s
+just Bill and the girl.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah, but I can’t see nothing—hold on!
+I’m lying. I do see them. Yes, it’s just Bill
+and the girl, as sure as fate, Mr. Mudd.”</p>
+
+<p>The pronouncing of the name put Dick
+on the alert instantly.</p>
+
+<p>The two men, whoever they might be,
+seemed to be just below the ledge upon
+which he was resting.</p>
+
+<p>He crawled to the edge and looked down.</p>
+
+<p>Now, for the first time, he perceived his
+true situation.</p>
+
+<p>He had come out on the side of the mountain.
+Far below him lay the sand hills,
+bathed in moonlight, extending off in the
+distance as far as he could see, while directly
+at his feet ran a narrow trail, which
+seemed to go winding higher up the mountain,
+passing under the shelf.</p>
+
+<p>Away down the trail he could see two
+figures mounted upon horses making their
+way up the mountainside, but he could not,
+from his position, make out just where the
+two men were standing, although he could
+hear their voices plain enough.</p>
+
+<p>Was it really the man Martin Mudd?</p>
+
+<p>It seemed so strange that he should have
+dreamed about him and that his dream
+should come out partially true like this.</p>
+
+<p>Dick craned his neck over the rock as far
+as he dared, catching sight of the men at
+last as they stood there leaning against the
+wall directly underneath the overhanging
+ledge.</p>
+
+<p>It was Martin Mudd, sure enough. The
+moon shone directly upon him, and, although
+the glance was a brief one, Dick
+could see him plainly.</p>
+
+<p>He pulled back quick and crouched upon
+the rock, listening, for Mudd had begun to
+talk again.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Tony,” he was saying, “this is a
+case of revenge upon the old man in part
+and a case of true love for the other part.
+You may think me looney, but I actually
+have fallen in love with Clara Eglinton and
+I am determined to make her my wife.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ha! Ha! Ha!” laughed the concealed
+Tony. “Your wife! Why, she might as
+well be the wife of a coyote. Ho! Ho! Ho!”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean, you pigeon-breasted
+tenderfoot!” cried Mudd. “I’d have you to
+understand I am about to come into a fortune.
+As soon as I put a knife into Dick
+Darrell’s heart I collect $10,000. Put that
+in your pipe and smoke it. Call me a coyote,
+indeed.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick was lost in amazement. For the
+life of him he couldn’t imagine what it all
+meant.</p>
+
+<p>“Who in the world wants me out of the
+way?” he thought again and again, as he
+listened to still further conversation about
+mines and mining, which did not interest
+him at all.</p>
+
+<p>All this time the two figures on the
+horses were coming steadily on up the trail.</p>
+
+<p>Mudd was evidently watching through a
+night glass, for once he made a remark
+about its being misty. At last he suddenly
+exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>“Here they are. Lay low, Tony. You
+jump in and pretend to seize Bill. I’ll take
+care of the girl.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick stood up, clutching a heavy stone in
+each hand.</p>
+
+<p>“Halt, there!” shouted Tony, suddenly
+springing out of his concealment as the
+forward horse came around the turn in the
+rocks.</p>
+
+<p>“Miss Clara, your most obedient,” said
+Martin Mudd, also stepping out into view.
+“Sorry to detain you on your way to join
+your father at the mine, but I have a little
+business to transact with you.”</p>
+
+<p>The girl screamed.</p>
+
+<p>Bill pretended to resist and did some
+threatening, but yielded to Tony without a
+struggle just the same.</p>
+
+<p>“Get off the horse,” cried Mudd. “Now,
+then, no nonsense, my dear; you are in my
+power. Unless something drops I——”</p>
+
+<p>“Here it is,” cried a voice above them,
+and Dick Darrell jumped down from the
+shelf above still clutching the stones in his
+hands.</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[18]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">CAPTURED BY MUDD.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“Great guns! The Darrell boy!” gasped
+Martin Mudd, as Dick boldly faced the
+three men.</p>
+
+<p>“Help! Oh, save me from this fellow!”
+screamed Clara.</p>
+
+<p>Dick threw up his right hand and let one
+of the stones fly.</p>
+
+<p>That was the time Martin Mudd came
+near seeing his finish.</p>
+
+<p>If he had not dodged the stone he would
+have got it alongside the head.</p>
+
+<p>Dick followed up with the other stone,
+but that was a miss also and before he
+could show any further fight Tony and Bill
+Struthers rushed upon him.</p>
+
+<p>The case looked desperate then.</p>
+
+<p>Clara Eglinton, terribly frightened, urged
+her horse on up the hill.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t kill him! Hold him till I come
+back, Tony!” shouted Mudd, starting up the
+trail after the horse.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, hold me if you can get me!” cried
+Dick, whipping out his revolver. “Now,
+then, slope, you scoundrels! Slope or I’ll
+make short work of you both.”</p>
+
+<p>The men dodged back.</p>
+
+<p>Bill Struthers vaulted upon his horse
+and clashed away up the trail.</p>
+
+<p>“Cowards!” snarled Tony, throwing up
+his hands. “I surrender, young feller. They<span class="pagenum">[19]</span>
+have both deserted me. I’m not going to
+do this act alone.”</p>
+
+<p>“Throw down your gun, then, and your
+knife, too, if you have one,” retorted Dick.
+“I don’t trust your kind.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony flung a revolver at Dick’s feet.</p>
+
+<p>“Now the knife.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hain’t got one.”</p>
+
+<p>“I know better. Throw it down or I’ll
+make a finish of you—do you hear?”</p>
+
+<p>Tony pulled out a long knife and flung
+it upon the ground by the revolver.</p>
+
+<p>Then, as Dick stooped to pick them up he
+improved the opportunity to take to his
+heels and run like a deer up the trail.</p>
+
+<p>“By gracious, they are a sweet lot of
+cowards!” exclaimed Dick. “Never saw
+their equal. What in the world shall I do
+about that girl, though? Strange that I
+should meet her again away out here. I
+can’t imagine what it means.”</p>
+
+<p>He was hurrying along up the trail as
+these thoughts flashed over him, for he
+had no notion of deserting Clara Eglinton,
+in spite of the fact that she had deserted
+him.</p>
+
+<p>There was evidently trouble ahead for
+himself, too, unless he could keep out of
+the way of the man Mudd.</p>
+
+<p>More puzzled than ever to know what it
+all meant, Dick made the best time he could
+up the trail, but his wet clothes seemed to
+hold him back and it seemed to him that
+he had never run so slow as he was running
+now.</p>
+
+<p>For a few moments he could hear the
+clatter of the horses’ hoofs upon the stony
+trail and once he heard Mudd give a shout.</p>
+
+<p>Then, after a few moments of silence,
+other horses were heard—there seemed to
+be several of them. Then the sounds suddenly
+died away and all was still.</p>
+
+<p>Dick followed on, a good deal perplexed.</p>
+
+<p>He had no idea where the trail was going
+to lead him, but he knew enough about the
+Bad Lands to be quite well aware that to
+be lost in them meant simply death.</p>
+
+<p>Even the Indians avoid these dreary
+wastes. For a hundred miles east and
+twice as much west Doctor Dan had told
+him that there was not a ranch or a house
+of any kind and it was just as bad if he
+went north, as he seemed to be going now.</p>
+
+<p>“If it wasn’t for Miss Eglinton I would go
+straight down the mountain and try to get
+back to camp by the trail we followed,”
+thought Dick, “yet I can’t run away and
+leave the poor girl in the hands of those
+scoundrels. What in the world shall I do,
+anyhow? I’m blest if I know.”</p>
+
+<p>He pushed on for a short distance further,
+passing into a dark canyon where
+the cliffs towered on either side of him.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing to be seen or heard of
+the horses here, either. They seemed to
+have utterly vanished. With many windings
+the canyon led off up the mountain;
+it was broken by cross canyons, dark, narrow
+passages opening off every few yards.</p>
+
+<p>Dick soon saw that the case was absolutely
+hopeless, for the horses might have
+taken to any of these canyons.</p>
+
+<p>He came to the conclusion that Martin
+Mudd and Tony must have had horses concealed
+near by and had mounted them when
+they started away from the scene of the
+fight.</p>
+
+<p>“This won’t do,” exclaimed Dick, stopping
+short at last. “I must go back. I
+must go straight down to the foot of the
+mountain and try to get back to camp and
+rely upon Doctor Dan to help me find that
+girl.”</p>
+
+<p>This was a wise resolve, no doubt, but
+Dick soon found that it was one thing to
+come to it and quite another to carry it
+out.</p>
+
+<p>He calculated that he was about three
+hundred yards away from the entrance of
+the canyon and he expected to spend five or
+ten minutes getting back, but, after he had
+walked twenty, he still found himself
+between those towering walls of rock, the
+dark canyon still winding on.</p>
+
+<p>Dick stopped again, a horrible fear coming
+over him.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m lost already. That’s what’s the matter,”
+he muttered. “What in the world am
+I to do?”</p>
+
+<p>And, indeed, the situation was anything
+but pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>The little moonlight which found its way
+down into the canyon did no more than to
+enable Dick to keep from stumbling.</p>
+
+<p>The entrances to all the cross canyons
+looked alike. It was the easiest thing in
+the world to mistake one for the other and
+Dick knew that this was just what he must
+have done.</p>
+
+<p>He hurriedly retraced his steps, trying to
+determine which of the many openings was
+the correct one and at last settled upon one
+a little wider than the rest and undertook
+to follow that.</p>
+
+<p>He was doomed to disappointment, however,
+for after going a short distance down
+on the down grade the trail through the
+canyon suddenly began to ascend, growing
+steeper and steeper every moment, but Dick
+continued to follow it, for he could see more
+light ahead and a cold damp wind came
+rushing down the canyon and both of these
+signs made him fancy that he must be
+pretty close to the lake.</p>
+
+<p>“If I can only strike it I don’t want anything
+better,” he thought; “then all I’ve
+got to do is to follow the shore around till
+I come to the camp.”</p>
+
+<p>He had not far to go before he knew that
+he was right, for suddenly he passed out of<span class="pagenum">[20]</span>
+the canyon and came upon the shore of the
+lake.</p>
+
+<p>Within a few rods of the end of the canyon
+stood an old, ruinous log hut, in the
+window of which a light burned.</p>
+
+<p>There were four horses hobbled near-by
+cropping the grass which grew over a level
+stretch that extended back toward the
+rocks, being the only trace of any green
+thing which Dick had seen since he entered
+the Bad Lands.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s where they are,” he muttered.
+“I’ve run them down at last.”</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated a moment and then started
+to walk over to the hut.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m bound to help that girl if I can,”
+thought Dick. “Those fellows are such a
+lot of cowards that——”</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly two hands were clapped upon
+his shoulders from behind and Dick found
+himself whirled violently around to face
+Martin Mudd.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s the talk. Glad you came around,”
+chuckled the man. “It’s dollars in my
+pocket to do you up, Dick Darrell, and
+don’t you forget it you are going to be
+done.”</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">A NEW ARRIVAL FROM THE LAKE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>If Dick had been fool enough to show
+fight then there is no doubt that he would
+have been killed outright, for the man
+Mudd got him by the throat with his left
+hand and at the same time tried his old
+game of whipping out a knife and holding
+it over Dick’s heart.</p>
+
+<p>“Hold on!” cried Dick. “Hold on, there,
+Mr. Mudd. Aren’t you making a mistake?”</p>
+
+<p>Dick spoke with amazing calmness considering
+the circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>No one to have heard him would have
+dreamed of the excitement he was laboring
+under just then.</p>
+
+<p>“No mistake at all,” laughed Mudd.
+“Mebbe you think I am mad?”</p>
+
+<p>“You act that way. I don’t know you and
+you can’t possibly know me. I’m only a
+poor assistant in the National Museum. If
+you are working for money I don’t see
+where you expect to gain anything by sticking
+that knife into me.”</p>
+
+<p>This remark and the coolness with which
+it was uttered undoubtedly saved Dick’s
+life.</p>
+
+<p>Martin Mudd immediately changed his
+tune.</p>
+
+<p>“Say,” he exclaimed, “you give me an
+idea, young feller. I am working for money
+every time and the man who bids the highest
+for my services is the man who gets
+them—mebbe you’d like to bid.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll make a bid for my life, you bet,”
+said Dick. “Suppose you explain the situation.
+I’ll be blest if I understand it at
+all.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s business,” replied Mr. Mudd, looking
+over at the hut; “just drop that gun of
+yours while I hold you as you are. Don’t
+try to use it on me now, boy, for if you do
+by the piper who played before Moses I’ll
+bury this knife in your heart.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick threw the revolver down on the
+ground. There was no chance to use it with
+that terrible grip on his throat.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s right,” said Mudd, kicking the
+revolver off to some distance. “Now we
+can talk. Promise me that you won’t make
+a move and I’ll let go your throat.”</p>
+
+<p>“I promise,” said Dick. “There’s no
+sense in our quarreling. We don’t know
+each other. What I want to find out is
+what all this is about.”</p>
+
+<p>Martin Mudd let go and leaned back
+against the rocks, indulging in a hearty
+laugh.</p>
+
+<p>“Of course we don’t know each other—that’s
+got nothing to do with it,” he said.
+“Now, look here, young Darrell, suppose I
+could put you in the way of picking up a
+big fortune—say a million and over. What
+about that?”</p>
+
+<p>“Honestly?” asked Dick.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, honestly. Oh, I’m not joking. I’m
+in dead earnest. How much will you give?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll give you a hundred thousand dollars
+the day I come into the money,” replied
+Dick, but when he said it he had not the
+faintest notion that Martin Mudd’s singular
+words were anything more than a bluff.</p>
+
+<p>“Humph! Well, that’s business, but perhaps
+you’ll make it more.”</p>
+
+<p>“A hundred thousand dollars is a good
+lump of money,” said Dick. “You were going
+to explain about this. Do it, and——”</p>
+
+<p>“Not now. You are the highest bidder
+by a lot. Will you sign a paper to that
+effect?”</p>
+
+<p>“Certainly I will if you will let me read
+it before I sign.”</p>
+
+<p>“You shall draw it up yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s satisfactory. Now what?”</p>
+
+<p>“Where’s your camp? You were coming
+up here monster hunting. I know. Thought
+you would find that big prehistoric monster
+Ike Izard claimed to have seen. Ha! Ha!
+What fools your scientists are.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not quite so big fools as you may think,”
+replied Dick. “I’ve seen that same monster
+all right.”</p>
+
+<p>“Rats! Rubbish! Come on to the hut.
+We’ll talk this thing over. I—merciful
+mother of Moses! Look there!”</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the water of Izard Lake, close
+to where they stood, began to boil in the
+same old fashion, and all at once a huge
+head, shaped like a crocodile’s, was thrust<span class="pagenum">[21]</span>
+out.</p>
+
+<p>It was not the Plesiosaurus at all, but a
+monster of an entirely different sort.</p>
+
+<p>Its vast body was covered with great
+scales, its huge eyes seemed to reflect back
+the moonlight. It opened its cavernous
+mouth fully a yard long and uttered a hissing
+roar which seemed to shake the very
+earth as it made a rush shoreward, directly
+for the place where Dick and Martin Mudd
+stood.</p>
+
+<p>The effect was to break up Dick’s little
+session with that eccentric individual on
+the instant, for Mudd gave a wild yell of
+terror, took to his heels and ran toward the
+hut, leaving Dick to shift for himself.</p>
+
+<p>But Dick was not running away.</p>
+
+<p>He was altogether too much interested in
+this wonderful monster.</p>
+
+<p>Without an instant’s hesitation he scrambled
+up on the rocks behind him, stopping
+and looking back when he had gained a
+flat ledge about ten feet up from the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Undoubtedly he then witnessed a sight
+which no other man had ever seen before,
+unless it might be some Indian wandering
+through this part of the Bad Lands.</p>
+
+<p>Without paying the least attention to
+Dick the monster came up out of the water
+entirely and went waddling along the shore
+on four little stumpy legs, dragging behind
+it a thick, scaly tail fully thirty feet in
+length and taking his course toward the
+hut.</p>
+
+<p>Martin Mudd looked back and saw it
+coming. The hut door flew open and Bill
+Struthers and the man Tony came rushing
+out.</p>
+
+<p>“Gee whiz! What’s that? Have I got
+’em again?” Tony yelled and he made a bee
+line for the horses.</p>
+
+<p>“Not without me. I don’t stay here none
+now,” shouted Struthers, following him.</p>
+
+<p>“Hold on. Hold on, you fools. Get your
+guns and shoot the critter. Don’t go off and
+leave me so,” Martin Mudd called out at
+the top of his lungs.</p>
+
+<p>But his companions paid no attention to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Cutting the hobbles, they flung themselves
+on their horses and went dashing up
+the lake shore.</p>
+
+<p>Mudd paused for a moment, looked back
+and hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>At the same instant the lake monster
+treated him to another taste of that tremendous
+hissing roar, alongside of which
+the bellow of the Plesiosaurus was sweet
+music.</p>
+
+<p>It was too much for Mr. Mudd. He went
+bounding toward the remaining horses,
+which stood half paralyzed with fear.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment he was astride one of them
+and dashing away after the others, while
+the monster, without altering its course,
+kept steadily on toward the hut.</p>
+
+<p>“Great Scott! What’s going to become of
+Clara Eglinton?” thought Dick. “Is she
+tied up in there a prisoner all alone?”</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">WHAT MONSTER IS COMING NOW?</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>No such thought as fear, no idea of holding
+back, ever entered Dick Darrell’s head.</p>
+
+<p>He scrambled down off the rocks and ran
+at full speed over the grass, giving that
+moving nightmare a wide berth and by a
+semi-circular course making for the hut.</p>
+
+<p>The monster moved very slowly, seeming
+to have but slight powers of locomotion on
+land, although Dick never doubted that in
+the water it would show itself lively
+enough.</p>
+
+<p>“If it was to rise up on that tail and
+fall on the hut it would crush it to splinters,”
+thought Dick, “but I don’t believe it
+has any such idea.”</p>
+
+<p>He had almost reached the hut now.
+There was no back door, as he had expected
+to see, so he started to run around in front.</p>
+
+<p>He had almost gained the door when, to
+his astonishment, he suddenly heard his
+name shouted from off on the lake.</p>
+
+<p>“Dick! Dick!”</p>
+
+<p>Dick turned and faced the monster, and,
+looking over and beyond him, saw Charley
+paddling the rubber canoe for all he was
+worth.</p>
+
+<p>“Hello, Dick! What in thunder are you
+doing there?” yelled Charley. “Look on the
+shore! Don’t you see?”</p>
+
+<p>Bang! Bang!</p>
+
+<p>At the same instant two rifle shots rang
+out in quick succession and Dick saw Doctor
+Dan running along the shore toward
+the monster.</p>
+
+<p>He fired again as Dick caught sight of
+him. The bullet struck the monster’s tail,
+but glanced off as though it had come
+against an iron wall.</p>
+
+<p>The shots, however, had their effect, for
+the report of the gun seemed to startle the
+huge creature.</p>
+
+<p>It stopped, turned its head and looked
+back, and, with another roar, waddled to
+the water and slipped in with a tremendous
+splash, the commotion nearly swamping
+the rubber canoe, which Charley drove up
+on the beach heedless of any ill effect the
+sharp stones might have on the bottom.</p>
+
+<p>An instant later and it was all over.</p>
+
+<p>The monster had disappeared and Dick,
+Doctor Dan and Charley Nicholson stood together
+on the shore.</p>
+
+<p>We pass over the explanations which naturally
+followed.</p>
+
+<p>Charley was fairly wild with joy at the
+meeting.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[22]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I gave you up for dead, sure,” he said,
+“but Doctor Dan wouldn’t have it. It was
+he who insisted upon getting the canoe out
+and coming to look for you. What sort of
+a creature was it, Dick? I thought I must
+have gone mad when I first saw it crawling
+up on the shore.”</p>
+
+<p>But Dick was in no mood to talk science
+then.</p>
+
+<p>He hastily explained about Clara and
+they hurried toward the hut, fully expecting
+to find her a prisoner inside.</p>
+
+<p>To their astonishment the hut proved to
+be unoccupied.</p>
+
+<p>There could be no mistake about it,
+either, for the interior consisted of but
+a single room.</p>
+
+<p>There were several bunks against the
+wall and on a table in the middle of the
+room was a whisky bottle and three glasses,
+but there was absolutely nothing to show
+that Clara had ever been there.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, where’s your girl, Dick?” asked
+Charley, staring around.</p>
+
+<p>“Strange. That horse out there is certainly
+the one she rode,” replied Dick, and
+the horrible fear seized him that Martin
+Mudd might have made way with Clara on
+the road up to the lake.</p>
+
+<p>They searched in all directions, shouting
+Miss Eglinton’s name, but all to no purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Then they returned to the hut and began
+discussing the new monster, as a matter
+of course.</p>
+
+<p>“In some respects it resembles the Ichthyosaurus,”
+said Dick, “but still its short
+legs don’t fill the bill at all in that direction.
+It is probably entirely unknown to
+science.”</p>
+
+<p>“And immensely valuable if it could only
+be taken alive,” said Dr. Dan.</p>
+
+<p>“I wish I had either one of those monsters
+in a tank in New York or Chicago and
+could charge ten cents a head to show
+them,” cried Charley. “I shouldn’t want
+any better fortune than that.”</p>
+
+<p>“They can never be taken alive,” said
+Dick, decidedly. “It is the merest nonsense
+to think of such a thing. This is a wonderful
+place, though, Doc. If the National
+Museum will only take possession of this
+lake there may be money in these discoveries
+for some of us yet.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you think they will?” asked Doctor
+Dan.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sure of it. The land must belong to
+the government as it is.”</p>
+
+<p>“It undoubtedly does,” replied the guide.
+“Well, there may be something in it for
+Ike Izard and myself, after all. Now, then,
+what are we going to do?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t leave here till I know what has
+become of Miss Eglinton,” said Dick, decidedly.</p>
+
+<p>“Let me see,” said Dr. Dan. “I know that
+name. She must be the daughter of Colonel
+Eglinton, who owns a big gold mine back
+here in the mountains over toward the
+Black Hills.”</p>
+
+<p>“No doubt of it, from what I heard that
+fellow Mudd say,” replied Dick. “But let’s
+think what we had better do.”</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan gave one of his short laughs.
+“If you want to find her I can tell you how,”
+he said.</p>
+
+<p>“Tell it, then, for gracious sake!” cried
+Charley.</p>
+
+<p>“Mount that horse, turn his head toward
+the canyon and give him free rein. I’ll bet
+you what you like he’ll take you straight to
+the place where they halted. If you knew
+these mustangs of ours as well as I do you
+would say the same thing.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a splendid idea and we’ll try it
+right now!” cried Dick. “Shall we pack the
+canoe on behind the saddle?”</p>
+
+<p>“I think we had better. It may hold three
+but it will never hold four in case we find
+the girl. I can work my way back to
+camp through the canyons all right, don’t
+you be afraid of that.”</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan then caught the horse, which
+Dick mounted, after the canoe had been
+folded up and placed behind the saddle.</p>
+
+<p>He then started, Charley and Doctor Dan
+following behind.</p>
+
+<p>Dick threw the bridle down on the
+horse’s neck and the sure-footed little mustang
+walked straight toward the entrance
+of the canyon, but instead of turning into
+it, kept on under the cliffs.</p>
+
+<p>“Hello! It seems they didn’t come the
+way you thought they did after all!” exclaimed
+Doctor Dan; “probably there is
+another canyon just beyond here and——”</p>
+
+<p>“Gee! There it comes again!” broke out
+Charley, pointing off on the lake.</p>
+
+<p>The water had begun a furious commotion
+close to the shore.</p>
+
+<p>Dick stopped the horse and all remained
+staring at it for a minute or more, but as
+yet nothing appeared.</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[23]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">EXPLORING AROUND THE LAKE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>If Dick and Doctor Dan expected to see
+a new monster come up out of the lake
+that was the time they got left.</p>
+
+<p>Charley said from the first that nothing
+was coming and he was right.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s not old P. D.,” he declared; “that
+isn’t the way he boils the pot.”</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan looked a bit puzzled.</p>
+
+<p>“Might I inquire,” he asked in his stately
+way, “what you mean by old P. D.?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, certainly,” replied Charley. “Life
+is altogether too short to say Plesiosaurus
+Dolichodeirus every time and even Plesiosaurus
+without the doli-what’s-its-name
+takes too long, so from this time on I shall
+speak of our rubber-necked friend as old
+P. D.”</p>
+
+<p>“Exactly,” said Doctor Dan. “Now that
+I know I shall remember. I am not familiar
+with the scientific names of these
+monsters. I expect to see something.
+Watch! It will come. On this very spot
+Ike Izard and I saw the water boil like
+this.”</p>
+
+<p>“And nothing came of it?” asked Charley.</p>
+
+<p>“Nothing then. The monster did not
+rise.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, nor no monster will rise this time,”
+said Charley, emphatically. “You’ll see.”</p>
+
+<p>“I think I know what you are driving at,”
+said Dick. “You are thinking of the underground
+lake we talked about.”</p>
+
+<p>Charley nodded.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan looked puzzled, not understanding
+what that had to do with the boiling
+of the water which still continued.</p>
+
+<p>They watched the troubled surface of the
+lake for several minutes.</p>
+
+<p>The boiling grew less and less until
+finally it ceased altogether, nothing having
+appeared.</p>
+
+<p>“There you are,” said Charley, triumphantly.
+“Just as I said.”</p>
+
+<p>“Your idea is, I suppose,” said Dick,
+“that the water is running off into the underground
+lake?”</p>
+
+<p>“My idea is,” said Charley, “that under
+the mountain on the left here is a big cavern
+at a lower level than this lake and
+that between it and the lake is a deep hole.
+When the hole is full of water it discharges
+into the cavern gradually by a small outlet,
+when it gets down to a certain level the
+water of Izard Lake runs down into the
+hole until the equilibrium is restored.”</p>
+
+<p>“Right,” said Dick. “Just what I think,
+exactly.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s too deep for me,” said Doctor Dan,
+shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>“What, the theory or the hole?” laughed
+Dick.</p>
+
+<p>“Both. I should have to see the hole before
+I believed in it and I don’t understand
+the theory of all.”</p>
+
+<p>“If we could only stay here and watch
+we would find that the boiling takes place
+at regular intervals and continues just so
+long,” added Charley. “We can investigate
+this later on if you say so, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“By all means,” replied Dick, “but now
+we must be on the move. I shall never
+rest until I have found Clara Eglinton and
+I only hope Doctor Dan’s theory proves
+correct.”</p>
+
+<p>“About the horse?” replied Doctor Dan.
+“You will find it entirely correct. If I am<span class="pagenum">[24]</span>
+not up on science I am on horses. Give that
+mare her head and she will take us to the
+place where they turned off with the lady
+sure; that is, if there is any such place.
+As I understand the situation, you are not
+actually sure that Mudd captured her at
+all.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I have only his word for it,” said
+Dick, “and that don’t amount to much, I
+own.”</p>
+
+<p>They now moved on. The mare led the
+way into the pass through which Dick had
+come, continuing along about half the distance
+to the trail up the mountain, when
+she suddenly turned and stopped short up
+against the solid ledge.</p>
+
+<p>“Well!” exclaimed Doctor Dan, “this is
+queer!”</p>
+
+<p>The place into which the mare had
+turned was a sort of niche in the rocky
+wall, crescent shaped and perhaps forty
+feet deep.</p>
+
+<p>There was no break anywhere and the
+rocks towered to a height of several hundred
+feet above their heads.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the matter with the beast? What
+does she stop here for?” demanded Dick.</p>
+
+<p>But Doctor Dan could give no satisfactory
+answer to this question.</p>
+
+<p>He dismounted and made a long and
+careful examination of the place without
+discovering anything to explain the conduct
+of the mare.</p>
+
+<p>“It beats me,” he said at last, “but one
+thing is certain there is no way through
+that ledge.”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps they just halted here for some
+purpose or other,” said Dick. “I think we
+had better push on. The mare may give us
+another steer.”</p>
+
+<p>But the mare did nothing of the sort.
+They continued on to the trail and then
+down the mountain to the alkali plains.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan’s knowledge of the country
+came in play here, for he recognized the
+place and led the way to their old trail up
+the mountain, which began about half a
+mile further along.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed useless to spend any more time
+then looking for Clara Eglinton, so they
+continued on to the camp, where Doctor
+Dan cooked a splendid breakfast, having
+shot an antelope just before they turned
+off from the plain.</p>
+
+<p>The remainder of the day passed without
+any notable adventure.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon the rubber boat was
+launched again and Dick and Charley
+pulled across the lake to the hut, leaving
+Doctor Dan to go on an exploring expedition
+along the shore on his own account.</p>
+
+<p>The hut was still deserted and there was
+no sign that Mudd and his companions had
+returned.</p>
+
+<p>The boys on the way back pulled around
+to the place where the singular boiling of
+the water had occurred.</p>
+
+<p>All was placid enough now, but just as
+they were turning away the boiling began
+again.</p>
+
+<p>The boys watched it until it ceased, the
+time being exactly ten minutes.</p>
+
+<p>After it was over they waited around for
+half an hour more, but the phenomenon
+was not repeated.</p>
+
+<p>“We must come over and spend the day
+here soon,” declared Dick. “My theory is
+that if an underground lake really exists
+that is where old P. D. and the other monster
+have their holdout and we must contrive
+some way to get down into it. Maybe
+the underground passage I went through
+connects with your cavern, Charley. What
+do you say to following it up and trying to
+find out?”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s the idea, exactly,” said Charley.
+“We know from your discovery that there
+is a small underground lake, so what’s to
+hinder there being a big one? We’ll take
+that in to-morrow and the event will prove
+that I am right.”</p>
+
+<p>On the way back to camp Charley
+thought that he caught sight of the head of
+old P. D. lifted for a single instant above
+the water, but Dick did not see it and
+Charley could not feel quite sure.</p>
+
+<p>When they got back to camp they found
+that Doctor Dan had already returned and
+had supper ready.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got great news to tell you, boys,”
+he exclaimed. “I’ve seen old P. D. again
+and this time on the land. What do you
+say to that?”</p>
+
+<p>“Hooray!” cried Dick. “Here’s another
+discovery of the habits of old P. D. It gives
+me hope that we may succeed in capturing
+him yet.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s a chance for us,” said Doctor
+Dan, “and I can show you just how it can
+be done if you will follow me around the
+lake shore to a place where I was to-day.”</p>
+
+<p>He had scarcely made the remark when
+the same old bellow was heard off on the
+lake.</p>
+
+<p>All hands ran down to the shore and
+looked off upon the water, but not a thing
+could they see of old P. D.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">THE LETTER ON THE TABLE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“He’s around here somewhere,” said
+Dick. “There’s no mistaking that melodious
+voice, but where?”</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly another strange sound broke
+upon the air; half scream, half roar, and
+then a tremendous splash was heard over
+in the direction of the next cove.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[25]</span></p>
+
+<p>The boys and Doctor Dan, seizing their
+rifles, ran that way, but before they got to
+the bend of the rocks they were able to
+see what was going on.</p>
+
+<p>It was such a combat as probably no man
+on earth ever witnessed before.</p>
+
+<p>There was old P. D. and a monster precisely
+similar to the one the boys had seen
+on the other side of the lake hard at it,
+and a bellowing and roaring broke upon
+the air that was fairly deafening.</p>
+
+<p>The Plesiosaurus would rear its ugly
+head far above the water and strike with
+lightning rapidity at its antagonist, which
+would dodge and then dart forward, squirting
+up two vast streams of water out of
+holes in each side of its huge snout, snapping
+its crocodile-like jaws and displaying
+its terrible teeth.</p>
+
+<p>For about twenty seconds the boys were
+treated to this wonderful exhibition and
+then, with a fearful splash, monster No. 2
+leaped half its length out of the water,
+caught old P. D. by the neck and dragged
+him down out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>“By gracious!” cried Charley. “That’s
+great!”</p>
+
+<p>“Tremendous!” echoed Dick. “Who on
+earth ever saw the like?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll bet on old P. D. every time,” chuckled
+Doctor Dan, relaxing his gravity for once
+and indulging in a hearty laugh. “It don’t
+seem to strike you as comical as it does
+me, boys. It’s one of the funniest things I
+ever saw.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick failed to see where the laugh came
+in, but he said nothing and for some time
+they stood watching for the reappearance
+of the monsters, but the moments passed
+and they did not come to the surface again.</p>
+
+<p>“There must be more than one Plesiosaurus,”
+remarked Dick, as they sat at supper;
+“by the way, Doctor, you were going
+to tell us of your discovery and how we
+could capture old P. D.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, there is a cove around on the
+western shore that has a very narrow entrance,”
+replied Doctor Dan. “There are
+great stones scattered all around there and
+there is one that I am sure would choke up
+the entrance if it was dropped between the
+ledges. Now if we could rig up some sort
+of a snare in the cove with the ropes we
+have brought and then pry the boulder
+over into the break and choke it up we
+would have our friend P. D. hard and fast.”</p>
+
+<p>“Always providing he is obliging enough
+to go into the cove and run into our snare,”
+said Dick. “Well, we will take a look at it
+in the morning and see what we can make
+out of it. I’m dead tired now and I’m going
+to turn in.”</p>
+
+<p>The tents had been moved further up
+the bank and as Doctor Dan had agreed to
+watch until morning Dick and Charley now
+wrapped themselves up in their blankets
+and put in a good night undisturbed.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan had no news to report in the
+morning and after breakfast he went up
+on the ledges, wrapped himself in his blankets
+and went to sleep there, telling the
+boys that they need not trouble their heads
+about him, but just do whatever they
+pleased.</p>
+
+<p>“Let’s try the underground passage,
+Dick,” said Charley. “I’m wild to know if
+my theory is correct.”</p>
+
+<p>“If I knew where we could dive and
+strike it I’d say yes in a minute,” replied
+Dick, “but I could never locate the place
+and I don’t care about running the horses
+around to the other trail without Doctor
+Dan.”</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose that means we are to go across
+the lake again and see what we can find of
+the girl?”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s what we ought to do.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then by all means let’s do it. Duty first
+and pleasure afterward. How long do you
+intend to stop up here, anyhow?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, a day or two. If we fail entirely I
+think I shall try to persuade Doctor Dan
+to take me on to Mr. Eglinton’s mine and
+see if Clara is safe there.”</p>
+
+<p>“That means time lost. How about telegraphing
+Professor Poynter?”</p>
+
+<p>“We can do that from the mine just as
+well as from Node Ranch. No doubt there
+is a line through to there.”</p>
+
+<p>“The girl is a nuisance,” declared
+Charley. “I really believe you are ready to
+fall in love with her, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m ready to help her if she needs help
+and to save her from that scoundrel Mudd,”
+declared Dick, “but don’t let’s do any more
+talking until we have made a start.”</p>
+
+<p>The boat was soon stretched and the
+seats placed and the boys then carried it
+down to the lake and got in.</p>
+
+<p>It was not a pleasant craft to navigate,
+but Charley had become quite skillful with
+the paddle and they were soon making
+good headway across the lake.</p>
+
+<p>“If we happen to run into old P. D. or
+his enemy there’s going to be an interesting
+time of it,” observed Dick. “You don’t say
+a word about that, Charley, but I know you
+are thinking about it all the same.”</p>
+
+<p>“And why not?” replied Charley. “Of
+course I’m thinking about it, but what’s
+the use talking? We have just got to take
+our chances. When I’m out on an expedition
+like this I don’t believe in showing
+the white feather. It isn’t my style nor
+yours, either, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“If it was mine you bet I wouldn’t be
+here,” <a id="Ref_25" href="#BRef_25">said</a> Dick, “but the danger is real just the
+same.”</p>
+
+<p>Charley paddled on until at last they
+reached the other side of the lake and<span class="pagenum">[26]</span>
+pulled up their boat on the shore close to
+the hut.</p>
+
+<p>It still wore the same air of desertion.
+Dick had left the door partly open and
+had placed a small pebble on top of it in
+such a manner that if the door was touched
+the stone would be sure to fall.</p>
+
+<p>He seized hold of the door and pulled it
+open, but no pebble fell.</p>
+
+<p>“There’s been some one here!” he exclaimed.
+“Look, Charley, the floor is all
+tracked over with alkali since we were
+here.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s what, Dick. If it was mud, now,
+we might guess it was your friend.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ten to one it was Mudd,” replied Dick.
+“Hello, what’s this?”</p>
+
+<p>In the middle of the long table which occupied
+the centre of the room lay a paper
+upon which some words were written, fastened
+to the table by a rusty old bowie
+knife which had been driven deep into the
+wood.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s yours, Dick,” cried Charley.
+“Don’t you see what it says?”</p>
+
+<p>“For you, Dick Darrell,” were the words
+scrawled over the paper in letters at least
+six inches long.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">INTO THE BOILING POT.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“That’s Mudd’s work, sure,” exclaimed
+Dick, and he pulled out the knife and
+picked the paper up, turning it over and
+finding the following written on the other
+side:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>“Friends or enemies—which?—I swore to
+kill you. On certain conditions I am willing
+to let you live—$100,000—you understand—but
+we can’t get together by keeping
+apart. Shall I come to you or will you
+come to me? I shall be in this hut at
+midnight and alone and you must come
+alone if you want to meet me. It will pay
+you, Dick Darrell, and you need fear nothing.
+If you do not come I shall take it to
+mean that I shall come to you. It will be
+too late to talk about the $100,000 then, for
+when I come I come to kill. Yours any
+way you like to take me, <span class="smcap" style="padding-left:1em">Mudd</span>.”</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>“Well!” exclaimed Charley, for Dick had
+been reading aloud, “that’s a most remarkable
+communication. What on earth does
+it all mean?”</p>
+
+<p>“Rubbish!” cried Dick. “He must think
+I am a born idiot. Still it shows the fellow
+is watching us.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know about that. There may
+be more in it than you think for. Are you
+going to do as he says?”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I think I see myself,” laughed
+Dick. “If he wants to come to me let him
+try it. I’m ready for him.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wouldn’t do it that way. I’d come to
+the hut and let me and Doctor Dan hang
+around somewhere. If we could once capture
+Mr. Martin Mudd his name would be
+mud for fair and we could find out then
+exactly what has become of the girl.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I’ll think it over,” said Dick.
+“Come on now and let’s have a look at the
+boiling pot.”</p>
+
+<p>This was the name the boys had given
+to the point on the lake which so interested
+Charley and they now went back into the
+boat and paddled along the shore until they
+came to the place.</p>
+
+<p>The water was now as calm here as elsewhere
+and showed no signs of disturbance.</p>
+
+<p>After pulling around a few moments
+Dick paddled ashore, declaring that he was
+going to look up the footprints of the monster
+and measure them.</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t need any help, I suppose,”
+said Charley. “I’ll stay out here. I want
+to watch the pot.”</p>
+
+<p>“They say a watched pot never boils,”
+laughed Dick, “but I’ve no objections to
+you trying to prove it. Of course I don’t
+need any help. It won’t take me five minutes,
+anyhow.”</p>
+
+<p>So Dick hurried along the shore, while
+Charley paddled out on the lake again.
+There was no difficulty in finding the impress
+of the monster’s huge feet in the
+sand and Dick got out his rule and was in
+the act of measuring them when all at once
+a shout from Charley called his attention
+to the lake.</p>
+
+<p>“She boils, Dick! She boils!” cried
+Charley.</p>
+
+<p>“Look out!” shouted Dick, running down
+to the shore. “Don’t go too near. There
+may be some suction there.”</p>
+
+<p>“By Jove, there is a big suction,” answered
+Charley, “and what’s more I’m
+right in it now.”</p>
+
+<p>He commenced to paddle furiously and
+perhaps he thought he was making some
+headway, but Dick saw that he was not.</p>
+
+<p>“Jump out, Charley!” he shouted. “Jump
+and save yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“I can do it! I can do it!” Charley replied,
+working the paddle more vigorously
+than ever.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the water was boiling furiously—more
+than it had done at any time yet.</p>
+
+<p>Dick was terribly alarmed. He was
+standing now on a point of rocks directly
+over the boiling pot and all at once, to his
+horror, he saw the boat half double up and
+go shooting into the middle of this miniature
+maelstrom.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m a goner!” yelled Charley, and he
+tumbled out of the boat.</p>
+
+<p>But he was too late to save himself.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[27]</span></p>
+
+<p>Like a flash the boat disappeared beneath
+the water.</p>
+
+<p>Charley made a noble effort to save himself,
+but the suction was too much for him.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Dick!” he cried suddenly, and then
+threw up his hands and was gone.</p>
+
+<p>Dick hesitated just one instant—no
+more.</p>
+
+<p>Without even stopping to throw off his
+coat he took a header into the boiling pot,
+disappearing like a flash.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed a piece of mad folly.</p>
+
+<p>How could he hope to rescue Charley
+under such circumstances as these?</p>
+
+<p>But Dick never gave that a thought. He
+would have jumped in just the same if he
+had known that he was jumping to his
+death.</p>
+
+<p>Down he went—down—down—drawn
+deeper every second by that terrible pull.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m a goner,” he thought “I can’t help
+myself,” and his heart began to fail him
+as he was still drawn on and on, deeper
+into the boiling pot.</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[28]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">THE WONDERFUL CAVERN.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Holding his breath and still being
+dragged downward by that terrible suction,
+Dick Darrell gave himself up for lost.</p>
+
+<p>His only hope was that his previous experience
+under the lake might be repeated.</p>
+
+<p>And in a different way this is just what
+happened. Dick was brought up with a
+round turn before he knew it.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the suction ceased and he went
+shooting forward; the next he knew his
+head was out of water and he was swimming
+for all he was worth down a swiftly
+flowing stream.</p>
+
+<p>He was now in a mighty cavern and it
+was comparatively light.</p>
+
+<p>Above him was the roof with immense
+stalactites hanging down like great icicles;
+the wall on his left was covered with the
+same glittering white formation; on the
+right the cave extended off into the distance
+further than the eye could reach; on ahead
+there was no roof, the cavern being open to
+the sky for a space of several hundred
+feet, which admitted light and air and enabled
+Dick to take in his surroundings.</p>
+
+<p>It was a truly wonderful place. Doubtless
+the opening was at some inaccessible
+point far up on the top of the mountain.
+It was at least a hundred feet up from the
+floor of the cavern and nothing without
+wings could hope to reach it.</p>
+
+<p>The stream rushed on with tremendous
+rapidity and Dick, feeling that he might be
+swept into a worse place, made all possible
+haste to get ashore, something not to be accomplished
+without difficulty, but at last
+he managed it, and, wet to the skin and
+gasping for breath, he sank down upon the
+sand and lay there, scarcely caring whether
+he lived or died.</p>
+
+<p>This state of things lasted only for a
+few moments, however.</p>
+
+<p>Dick’s strength soon returned and he
+scrambled to his feet and gave the peculiar
+shout which had been agreed upon as a
+signal between Charley and himself.</p>
+
+<p>There was so answer, although Dick
+shouted again and again. Still he did not
+give up hope now, for it was easy to imagine
+that Charley might have been swept
+on further and still have escaped.</p>
+
+<p>Dick ran on, calling, wild with anxiety,
+but nevertheless keeping cool, until at
+length he came under the opening, where
+he halted from sheer exhaustion and again
+sank down upon the sand.</p>
+
+<p>“This won’t do,” he thought. “I must
+brace up. I escaped before and I shall
+escape again. It’s a wonder that these
+underground outlets don’t drain the lake
+off. I’ve seen two of them now and I believe
+there are others. Hello! What’s that
+on ahead?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[29]</span></p>
+
+<p>The sun struck down through the big
+hole in the roof of the cavern and far in
+the distance there seemed to be a curious
+shimmering of light.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a lake—that’s what it is—an underground
+lake, just as Charley said,” thought
+Dick. “I’ll make for it, only I must get the
+water out of my clothes.”</p>
+
+<p>He hurriedly undressed and wrung his
+wet clothing out as dry as possible, dressing
+himself as soon as he had finished.</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose I shall get my death of cold
+either way,” he thought “so I might as
+well put my clothes on as to leave them
+off. Now for the lake. Nothing like a good
+run to warm a fellow up in a case like
+this.”</p>
+
+<p>He ran with all his might, coming in a
+few moments out upon the shore of a broad
+sheet of water, which extended off as far as
+the eye could penetrate into the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>The cavern was of vast proportions. Dick
+could see no walls on either side now, and
+as the lake cut off further advance, his
+heart sank, for how could he hope to escape
+from this strange place? The case seemed
+hopeless, indeed.</p>
+
+<p>As Dick stood there on the shore of the
+lake wondering what he ought to do, his
+attention was suddenly attracted by seeing
+in the distance a shadowy form hurrying
+toward him along the shore.</p>
+
+<p>“Charley! Charley! That you, Charley?”
+he shouted, starting off on the run again.</p>
+
+<p>The shadow halted and stood motionless,
+but there was no response.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s not Charley,” thought Dick. “If
+it was he would certainly answer. Who can
+it be? By gracious, it’s a woman! Hello,
+there! Hello! Don’t be afraid of me! I’ll
+not do you any harm.”</p>
+
+<p>The shadow had turned and started to
+run away, but seeming to be reassured by
+Dick’s cry, stopped again and now waited
+for him to come up.</p>
+
+<p>As Dick drew nearer he almost forgot
+Charley in the excitement which came over
+him as he recognized Clara Eglinton.</p>
+
+<p>“Who is it?” she called out. “What do
+you want with me? I won’t go back! No,
+I won’t!”</p>
+
+<p>“Miss Eglinton! Don’t you know me?”
+cried Dick.</p>
+
+<p>She recognized him the instant he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Mr. Darrell!” she exclaimed. “What
+ever brought you here? Oh, I am so thankful
+to see you! I—I——”</p>
+
+<p>She paused and burst into a passion of
+tears.</p>
+
+<p>Dick caught her in his arms and spoke
+such soothing words as came first to his
+tongue.</p>
+
+<p>“I am here to help you,” he said, “although
+my coming here is only the result of
+an accident. Tell me about yourself. What
+brought you here and how is it that you are
+alone?”</p>
+
+<p>“It was that scoundrel Mudd!” replied
+the girl. “He has held me a prisoner in
+this dreadful place since his tools captured
+me on the mountain night before
+last. They have a camp down here, Mr.
+Darrell. I’ve been a close prisoner until
+about an hour ago, when I managed to get
+away and—oh, oh! There comes that
+dreadful noise again! What is it? Oh,
+what is it?”</p>
+
+<p>In her excitement she clutched Dick’s
+arm and begged him to protect her, and
+there was nothing strange about her excitement
+either, for an awful bellowing
+was heard off on the lake, echoing and re-echoing
+back from the rocky walls of the
+cavern until the whole atmosphere reverberated
+with the frightful sound.</p>
+
+<p>But it did not disturb Dick a bit. He
+knew very well that it was only the Plesiosaurus.</p>
+
+<p>This underground lake then had its monster
+as well as the one above. Of course,
+Dick had given up the idea that there was
+only one P. D. He knew that there must
+be many and if Charley had only been safe
+with him he would have rejoiced in the
+discovery.</p>
+
+<p>As it was he hastily explained to Clara
+what the noise really meant and as the bellowing
+continued they stood there looking
+off on the lake watching for the Plesiosaurus
+to appear.</p>
+
+<p>“We may not see it at all,” said Dick.
+“There! It has stopped. No doubt it has
+gone under the water and—oh, Charley!
+Charley! This way! Here I am! It’s
+Dick! Hello! Hello!”</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Charley’s shout was heard in
+the distance and Dick lost no time in answering.</p>
+
+<p>At the same instant there was a rushing
+sound on the water right in front of them
+and the same old monstrous head came up
+out of the lake.</p>
+
+<p>Clara screamed and threw her arms
+about Dick.</p>
+
+<p>Higher and higher the head was thrust
+up as the neck of the monster came out
+of the water.</p>
+
+<p>Then came the frightful bellow once more
+and the head of the monster came
+darting toward them.</p>
+
+<p>Flinging a protecting arm about Clara,
+Dick drew her hastily back and they ran
+for their lives.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">LOST UNDERGROUND.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The Plesiosaurus made no attempt to
+come up out of the water.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[30]</span></p>
+
+<p>Once more it gave its strange cry and
+Dick, looking around, saw its huge back
+come up into view, and, with its long neck
+arched like a swan, it sailed away over the
+lake and was soon lost to view in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>Dick and Clara had now stopped running
+and stood looking off over the lake
+watching the strange creature as it sailed
+away.</p>
+
+<p>“I ought to be ashamed of myself for being
+so timid, Mr. Darrell,” said Clara. “But
+I have had such a dreadful time that my
+nerves are all shaken. What is that creature?
+I didn’t suppose anything like it existed
+on earth.”</p>
+
+<p>“And I don’t believe there is such a thing
+existing anywhere else,” replied Dick. “I’ll
+tell you all about it in a few moments. My
+friend is coming. I’ve got such a lot to tell
+you. Do you know I almost wonder that
+you remember my name—you only saw me
+for a moment that night in Washington.”</p>
+
+<p>“Indeed, I am not likely to forget your
+bravery then,” replied Clara, “nor what you
+tried to do for me on the mountain the
+other night.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hello, Dick! Hello! Hello! Where are
+you?” Charley’s welcome voice was heard
+shouting, although as yet he had not appeared.</p>
+
+<p>Dick had paused several times in his conversation
+to give Charley the call and he
+now did so again.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment they caught sight of a
+shadow coming along the shore of the lake
+and soon Charley, with his clothes as badly
+saturated as Dick’s, came hurrying up.</p>
+
+<p>It was a joyful meeting and the next ten
+minutes were devoted to explanations and
+telling their respective stories.</p>
+
+<p>Charley’s experience had been just the
+same as Dick’s, except that he was swept
+into the lake and had a hard job getting
+ashore, as he had become greatly exhausted.</p>
+
+<p>“Lucky old P. D. didn’t rise near me or
+I should have been a goner,” he said.
+“Strange you didn’t hear me holler, Dick.
+I kept it up all the time.”</p>
+
+<p>“So did I,” replied Dick, “but we must
+have been a long way apart at the beginning.
+Now, Charley, what is to be done?
+Here we three are in this hole and the
+thing is to get out as quick as ever we can,
+but for the life of me I don’t see how we
+are going to do it without running into
+Mudd and his gang.”</p>
+
+<p>Clara had explained her situation fully
+by this time. It appeared that she had been
+on her way to the mine her father owned
+in the neighborhood of the Black Hills, the
+man Bill Struthers having been sent down
+to the railroad to meet her and guide her
+through the Bad Lands to the mine.</p>
+
+<p>Mudd, she declared, was a man whom her
+father had used in his business, but had to
+discharge on account of dishonesty. “He’s
+a thorough scoundrel,” Clara went on to
+say; “he swore to be avenged on father and
+this is the way he has taken to do it. He
+brought me here and sent Bill in to tell
+father that the horse ran away with me
+and was lost. They expect father will offer
+a big reward to the man who finds me and
+I know they mean to trump up a story
+about my being captured by Indians and
+held for ransom. When they have got all
+the money they can out of father I suppose
+they mean to let me go.”</p>
+
+<p>They kept on talking thus until Dick
+called a halt by making the remark quoted
+above.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m blest if I see how we are going to
+get out,” said Charley. “We can’t go back
+up through the boiling pot, that’s certain.
+Perhaps Miss Eglinton will tell us how she
+was brought down into the cave.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I thought I told you about that!”
+exclaimed Clara.</p>
+
+<p>“You certainly didn’t,” answered Dick
+“I’ve been waiting for a chance to ask you.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s easily explained, but, see here, boys,
+as we have been thrown together in this
+strange way we want to be as good friends
+as possible. I’m Clara to all my friends
+and that’s what you must call me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I agree to that, providing you return the
+compliment,” replied Dick. “Now, don’t
+you worry. We are going to get out of this
+trouble and you are going back to camp
+with us. Our guide, Doctor Dan, knows
+every inch of the Bad Lands and we will
+start for your father’s mine at once and
+won’t leave you until you are safe in his
+hands.”</p>
+
+<p>Clara was very grateful and she went on
+to tell how, after her capture, Mudd had
+blindfolded her for a few moments, halting
+for that purpose in a rocky glen, as she
+called it.</p>
+
+<p>In this condition she had been led down
+some steps and when the handkerchief was
+removed from her eyes she found herself
+underground, being hurried along a narrow
+passage, which finally led them into the
+cave, where later the man Tony came, bringing
+the horses, which seemed to have come
+down by another way.</p>
+
+<p>Later all three of the men rode off and
+were gone some time, but Mudd and Tony
+soon came riding back again. Since then
+they had been coming and going, Clara herself
+being kept a close prisoner until this
+morning, when she managed to slip the
+cords off her hands, and, as none of the
+three were in the camp at the time, she
+made her escape and had wandered about
+the cavern until she met Dick.</p>
+
+<p>“What we have got to do, then,” said
+Dick, “is to get back to that camp and see<span class="pagenum">[31]</span>
+what we can find out about these different
+ways in and out of the cave. I wouldn’t
+wonder a bit, Charley, if Doctor Dan was
+right after all and that horse did lead us to
+the very spot where Clara was blindfolded.
+It was just such a place as she describes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Must we go back there,” said Clara.
+“I’d rather do almost anything else. You
+can’t imagine how I dread being captured
+by those men again and you know what
+Mudd has been to you, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t, but I wish I did,” replied Dick.
+“I can’t make the man out at all. In one
+breath he threatens to kill me and in the
+next he is talking about making me a
+millionaire. I believe he’s crazy, if you
+want to know really what I think.”</p>
+
+<p>It seemed entirely necessary to go back
+to the camp, however, so Clara undertook
+to guide them to the place.</p>
+
+<p>From the first Dick felt his doubts about
+her being able to do it, for she turned away
+from the lake after they had advanced
+along the shore for a short distance and
+soon they were in a part of the cavern
+where it was so dark that they could
+scarcely see a foot ahead of them.</p>
+
+<p>For an hour or more they wandered
+about.</p>
+
+<p>For a long time Clara had been very silent,
+only speaking when one of the boys
+directly addressed her.</p>
+
+<p>At length she stopped short, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>“It is no use, boys. I can’t find the place.
+We are lost here underground!”</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">MR. MUDD TURNS UP AGAIN.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“Now, that’s all right!” exclaimed Dick.
+“Until you were ready to give up, Clara,
+I didn’t want to say a word, but I think I
+can pilot the way to the camp.”</p>
+
+<p>“How, when you have never been there?”
+asked Clara. “Oh, I feel so ashamed of myself.
+I thought I could lead you straight
+back to it. Don’t be angry with me, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“As though I could be,” exclaimed Dick.
+“You have done your best and now if you
+give it up let me have my try.”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean to do?” asked
+Charley. “Upon my word, I’m all turned
+around myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll show you,” replied Dick. “First we
+want to get back where we started out. It’s
+easy enough to do that.”</p>
+
+<p>“I couldn’t do it,” said Clara. “I’ll own
+up that’s what I’ve been trying to do for
+the last half hour, but I just seemed to lead
+you round and round in a circle.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll fix it,” said Dick, confidently. “Come
+this way.”</p>
+
+<p>He started off in directly the opposite direction
+to that which they had been following.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I see!” cried Clara. “I understand
+now. You are going toward the light.”</p>
+
+<p>“Exactly,” replied Dick. “The light
+comes down through that hole in the roof
+and the underground river and the lake are
+right there and that’s where we have got to
+look for the trail.”</p>
+
+<p>“I saw no trail,” said Charley. “I looked
+for that when we started out.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s there and we’ll find it. Doctor Dan
+has given me some good pointers on trails.
+Trust an Indian for that. He’ll find a footprint
+where a white man could see nothing.
+We shall soon be back at the lake and then
+I’ll show you how well I’ve learned my
+lesson.”</p>
+
+<p>In a short time Dick brought up at the
+lake and soon found the spot where he had
+encountered Clara.</p>
+
+<p>“Now there you are!” he exclaimed, after
+bending down and examining the sand,
+which was pretty hard to be sure, but still
+the faint imprint of Clara’s footsteps could
+be seen.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m afraid if you expect to follow my
+course you will have a hard time of it,” said
+Clara. “I was wandering about a long time
+before I met you, Dick.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m not going to,” replied Dick. “I
+think I can do it without the trail. Tell
+me, was this camp against the wall of the
+cave?”</p>
+
+<p>“There were big rocks right back of
+where we were, if that is what you mean,”
+replied Clara.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s it. How about the lake?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I saw nothing of the lake until I
+had been walking around for some time.”</p>
+
+<p>“Would you know the place when you
+first struck it?”</p>
+
+<p>“I think I should. There was a black
+rock sticking up out of the water.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very good! Then we’ll go to the black
+rock. That’s easy found.”</p>
+
+<p>“I thought that I could strike right over
+to the place,” remarked Clara, as they
+walked along. “I never had the faintest
+idea that I was going to get lost.”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll strike off from the black rock,”
+said Dick. “When we were following you
+we kept going around in a circle, but I
+think I can strike a straight line to the
+wall; after that it will be dead easy, for
+all we have got to do is to follow the wall
+around.”</p>
+
+<p>They soon reached the black rock and
+Dick again showed them the trail.</p>
+
+<p>Still he did not attempt to follow it, but
+started off rapidly in the direction which
+he considered the wall ought to be, and hit
+it so accurately that within ten minutes
+they came up against the rocks.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, you are a splendid guide!” exclaimed
+Clara. “Now, what is to be done?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[32]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Which way do you think the camp lies?”
+asked Dick.</p>
+
+<p>Clara pointed to the left and Dick
+promptly started off to the right.</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose you wonder what I’m doing
+this for?” he said, “but I happen to know
+that you are wrong.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sure I’m right,” said Clara. “How
+can you know that I am not?”</p>
+
+<p>“Listen!” replied Dick.</p>
+
+<p>“I hear something like the pawing of a
+horse,” said Charley.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s exactly it. I heard the sound before
+we came to the wall. It’s the camp,
+of course, and what’s more, Martin Mudd
+or one of his men has returned.”</p>
+
+<p>“For mercy’s sake, don’t expose yourself,
+Dick,” said Clara. “Tell me what your
+plan is. I hate to even think of what
+might happen if you fell into the hands of
+Mudd.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then don’t think of it, for he is already
+in the hands of Mudd!” spoke a sneering
+voice right ahead of them.</p>
+
+<p>Clara screamed and Dick and Charley
+hastily drew their revolvers, for at the same
+instant two men armed with rifles sprang
+out from behind a turn in the rocks, and the
+foremost man was Mudd.</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[33]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">MARTIN MUDD MAKES A SERIOUS CHARGE.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“Throw up nothing!” shouted Dick Darrell
+when Martin Mudd called out, “Throw
+up your hands!” and he rushed forward,
+firing two shots as he went.</p>
+
+<p>This rather took Mudd &amp; Co. by surprise,
+as they had not expected anything of the
+sort.</p>
+
+<p>One of the shots went through Mudd’s
+rusty “tile,” knocking it off his head.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I’m shot! I’m shot!” he yelled.
+“Spare my life, boys!”</p>
+
+<p>Down he fell all in a heap.</p>
+
+<p>Tony had fired one shot, but, seeing
+Charley rush up to help Dick, letting fly
+with his revolver as he came, the valiant
+Tony took to his heels and sprinted off into
+the depths of the cavern.</p>
+
+<p>Dick lost no time in making Mudd a
+prisoner.</p>
+
+<p>Clara and Charley lent a hand and with
+a stout cord, which the latter happened to
+have in his pocket, they tied the fellow’s
+hands behind him.</p>
+
+<p>While this was going on Mudd kept up a
+dreadful racket, calling out in one breath
+that he was shot and the next begging the
+boys not to shoot him.</p>
+
+<p>He made so much noise about it that
+Dick unfeelingly suggested that he was not
+shot at all and told him he had better hold
+his tongue.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes I am, too,” growled Mudd. “I know<span class="pagenum">[34]</span>
+I am. This is a nice way to treat a man
+who has been deserted by his friend. Miss
+Clara, you might plead my cause, I think.
+I was always a good friend of your father’s,
+as you know very well.”</p>
+
+<p>“What impudence!” exclaimed Clara.
+“After the way you have used me, too!”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t see it in that light at all,” returned
+Mudd. “I haven’t ill used you. Your
+father owes me money that I can’t collect.
+I simply detained you until I could collect
+it—that’s all.”</p>
+
+<p>“If you don’t stop your noise, mister, I’ll
+put a gag in your mouth!” cried Dick.
+“Just stand still, will you, and I’ll soon see
+where you are hurt. Charley, pick up his
+hat. Clara, hold the lantern. We will
+straighten this thing out right now.”</p>
+
+<p>It was Mudd’s own lantern, which he
+dropped when he fell. Clara had picked it
+up and lighted it again and Dick now made
+a careful examination of the man, but could
+find no wound.</p>
+
+<p>“You are not hurt at all,” declared Dick.</p>
+
+<p>“One shot went through his hat,” said
+Charley.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a pity it didn’t go through his
+head,” added Dick. “Now, then, Mr. Mudd,
+seeing that you know the way out of this
+place I’ll thank you to show it to us, and be
+quick about it, do you understand?”</p>
+
+<p>Mudd began to snuffle.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll do it,” he drawled. “I do it under
+protest, because I have to do it. I’m a man
+of very sensitive feelings and I don’t like
+to be talked rough to like that. I’m like
+the devil. I’m not as black as I’m painted.
+I’ve acted in your interest, Dick Darrell,
+right along.”</p>
+
+<p>“So you say,” replied Dick. “I suppose,
+of course, you were acting for my interest
+when you tried to stick a knife into my
+back in the streets of Washington. Oh,
+you’re a bird, you are! Travel on and
+show us the way out of here and hold your
+tongue or I’ll make you—that’s all!”</p>
+
+<p>Mudd seemed thoroughly cowed. With
+his hands tied behind him he shuffled on
+through the cavern.</p>
+
+<p>Dick noticed that he kept in a direct
+line with the lake and seemed to know
+just where he was going, which, indeed,
+proved to be the case, for in a few moments
+he paused beside what seemed to be a flight
+of stone steps.</p>
+
+<p>“There’s the way out,” he growled.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, these are regular stairs!” exclaimed
+Dick.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s right,” said Clara. “I was brought
+down this way.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course it’s right,” growled Mudd. “If
+I may be allowed to speak now, I would
+like to say that these steps constitute a
+most important archæological discovery and
+one which should be communicated to the
+Smithsonian Institute. Yours truly, Martin
+Mudd, is the discoverer, so please mention
+his name in your report. You might
+call them the Mudd stairs, only that would
+be rather a misnomer, seeing that they are
+made of stone.”</p>
+
+<p>“Upon my word, you are the windiest
+beggar I ever came across,” said Dick.
+“Who built these stairs, anyway?”</p>
+
+<p>“There you go hurting my feelings again,
+and without the slightest reason,” retorted
+Mudd. “To the best of my knowledge and
+belief they were built by some prehistoric
+tribe of Indians like the cliff dwellers of
+the Colorado canyon. Don’t forget to mention
+my name when you make your report.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I’ll mention your name in my report
+fast enough—don’t you fret,” replied
+Dick. “Lead on, Clara. If these steps will
+take us out of this hole we don’t want to
+lose any time.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s a big stone to lift at the top of
+the flight,” said Mudd. “If you will untie
+my hands I’ll show you how to work it.
+You needn’t be afraid that I’ll run away.”</p>
+
+<p>But Dick would have none of his assistance,
+and, as it proved, it was not needed,
+for he was easily able to lift the stone himself.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed to move on two dowels set in
+sockets cut in the ledge; a very clever piece
+of work, which Dick determined to study
+into later on.</p>
+
+<p>When they came up into the open air our
+little party found themselves at the very
+point where the horse had stopped, proving
+Doctor Dan to have been entirely right in
+his conclusions.</p>
+
+<p>They were now free, but with the boat
+gone it seemed rather a discouraging situation,
+for night would soon be upon them
+and to take the long walk through the canyon
+and down the mountain and then up
+again on the other trail was not to be
+thought of at all.</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Mudd,” said Dick, turning to their
+prisoner, “you left a note for me in that
+hut over there by the lake?”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah! So you found it, did you?” replied
+Mudd. “Well?”</p>
+
+<p>“You asked me to meet you there alone
+at midnight and promised some important
+disclosures. You will have an opportunity
+to make them in the hut very soon, for I’m
+going to take you there now.”</p>
+
+<p>“You may take me there if you wish,
+same as you can take a horse to water,”
+growled Mudd.</p>
+
+<p>“By which I suppose you mean that I
+shall have the same trouble making you
+talk against your will that I would in making
+the horse drink unless he chose—is that
+it?”</p>
+
+<p>“That is it exactly. Same time, young
+feller, I’m willing to talk if I’m paid.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[35]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I told you what I’d do,” said Dick. “You
+put a million dollars in my hands and I’ll
+give you a hundred thousand.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will you give it to me in writing?”
+asked Mudd, quickly.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, I will.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good enough! Come on to the hut. This
+is no joke, Dick Darrell. You have been
+wronged out of a large fortune and I know
+it. I could name the man who did it if I
+chose and I have a great mind to do it,
+too.”</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke Martin Mudd shot a malignant
+look at Clara, which Dick did not
+at all understand just then.</p>
+
+<p>“Name him,” he said. “Speak out. I
+mean business; show that you do, too.”</p>
+
+<p>They were walking along through the
+canyon at the time and Mudd kept on for
+some moments in silence.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he looked up, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I will name him. He is Colonel
+Tom Eglinton, the father of that girl!”</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">CAUGHT NAPPING.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“It is false!” cried Clara. “How dare you
+accuse my father of crime?”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s true,” persisted Mudd; “and now
+that the cat is out of the bag, I’m going to
+tell the whole story, so that Dick Darrell
+can see what sort of cattle he is dealing
+with when he comes to deal with old Tom
+Eglinton and his brood.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hold your tongue or I’ll pull it out for
+you!” exclaimed Dick; “you have no right
+to insult this young lady so. Never mind
+him, Clara. We know what he is. Don’t
+pay the least attention to him. He is
+talking the same way he got shot—through
+his hat.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, all right, then,” retorted Mudd. “I’ll
+hold my tongue. Stick to your friends,
+the Eglintons, young feller, only let me
+tell you one thing, it was old Tom Eglinton
+who hired me to kill you—that’s straight.”</p>
+
+<p>It was a most awkward situation for
+Dick.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Clara was terribly overcome by the
+charge brought against her father, and it
+took all Dick’s tact and shrewdness to put
+her at her ease again.</p>
+
+<p>Charley took it all in and said but
+little, reserving his comments until they
+had reached the hut and disposed of their
+prisoner.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was now sinking behind the hills
+and night coming on.</p>
+
+<p>Dick scanned the opposite shore of the
+lake through his glass, but could see nothing
+of Doctor Dan.</p>
+
+<p>Things at the hut were exactly as they
+had left them, and as there was no possibility
+of leaving it before morning, Dick
+proceeded to make his arrangements accordingly.</p>
+
+<p>Mudd was put in the loft and his feet
+tied as well as his hands.</p>
+
+<p>The wily schemer made a vigorous protest
+against it all, but Dick would not listen
+to him, and he closed the trapdoor, which
+communicated with the loft, and left him
+to himself.</p>
+
+<p>As Clara was very much fatigued, Dick
+suggested that she take possession of one
+of the bunks in the lower room and lie
+down, which she did shortly after dark.</p>
+
+<p>As for the boys themselves, they had no
+other idea than to stand guard until morning.</p>
+
+<p>The night was just perfect; the air soft
+and balmy and every star seemed to be out
+for business.</p>
+
+<p>Arm in arm, Dick and Charley walked
+up and down the shore in front of the hut
+discussing the singular adventures which
+had befallen them, but it remained for
+Charley to bring the conversation back to
+Martin Mudd.</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t say much about that wild
+talk he made, Dick,” Charley began. “Don’t
+take any stock in it, I suppose?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, of course not,” laughed Dick. “It’s
+mere bluff.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t feel so sure about that,” said
+Charley, musingly. “I believe that there is
+something under it all.”</p>
+
+<p>“Guess not,” replied Dick, carelessly. “The
+mean wretch! He wanted to make poor
+Clara feel bad, that’s all. To-morrow, just
+as soon as it is light, we must all start down
+the mountain and get around to the other
+side of the lake. Doctor Dan shall decide
+whether we go back to Node Ranch with
+our prisoner or not, but I think it’s the
+best thing we can do.”</p>
+
+<p>“Suppose we build a big fire and let the
+Doctor know we are here?” suggested
+Charley.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, and let that scoundrel Tony know,
+too, and perhaps half a dozen others. No,
+thank you. I don’t care about that. We’ll
+let well enough alone.”</p>
+
+<p>For a few moments the boys continued to
+pace the shore in silence and then Charley
+broke out again.</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t get away from it, Dick,” he said.
+“I think you ought to listen to what Mudd
+has to tell.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I’ll listen all right,” replied <a id="Ref_35" href="#BRef_35">Dick</a>.
+“Trouble is he won’t talk now.”</p>
+
+<p>“No; you’ve got him mad. Say, Dick,
+you never told me much about your folks.
+I know your father and mother are both
+dead, but——”</p>
+
+<p>“But you still persist in thinking that I
+may turn out to be a millionaire. No,<span class="pagenum">[36]</span>
+Charley, I’m just nobody. My father was
+a mining engineer and poor as a church
+mouse. He used to operate out in this
+section, but he never made much more
+than a living. When I was about ten
+years old he was killed in a fight in Cheyenne
+and my mother died soon afterward.
+She always claimed that father owned
+mining lands out West, but she had no
+papers to prove it, so I guess there was
+nothing in it after all.”</p>
+
+<p>“Now there you are!” cried Charley.
+“Who knows but what Mudd might have
+been acquainted with your father?”</p>
+
+<p>“Might be so, of course, but, come. We
+have gone too far away from the hut.
+Let’s get back. We mustn’t do it again.”</p>
+
+<p>“Let’s go ahead to the Boiling Pot; it’s
+only a few steps further. Hark! Don’t
+you hear? It has got down to business
+again.”</p>
+
+<p>The surging of the waters over at the
+pot could be distinctly heard as the boys
+drew nearer and when they reached the
+point on the shore opposite to it the noise
+seemed louder than when they had heard
+it before.</p>
+
+<p>Charley bent over the edge of the bank
+watching the movement of the water intently.</p>
+
+<p>Just then the same familiar bellow was
+heard out on the lake and the Plesiosaurus
+rose to the surface at a considerable distance
+from shore.</p>
+
+<p>“By gracious, old P. D. again!” shouted
+Charley.</p>
+
+<p>Dick turned to look, when all at once
+there was a splash and Charley went headlong
+into the lake, pushed by a man who
+had stolen noiselessly up behind them,
+while Dick was seized by two others and
+swung violently around.</p>
+
+<p>“Throw him after the other one!” cried
+one of the men. “Let ’em both go down
+into the pot!”</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">OLD P. D. LOOKS DOWN OVER THE ROCKS.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Charley was floundering around in the
+whirl of waters, struggling for dear life
+to prevent being dragged down into the
+boiling pot.</p>
+
+<p>Dick was engaged in a struggle of another
+sort. He was making it decidedly hot
+for the men who had tackled him, kicking
+and turning and twisting. They tried hard
+to throw him over the edge of the bank and
+might have succeeded if another man had
+not come running out of the mouth of the
+canyon, shouting:</p>
+
+<p>“No, no! Don’t pitch him in! Let the
+other go to thunder, but I want this one,
+as I told you before.”</p>
+
+<p>It was Tony. As Dick recognized him
+he was suddenly stretched upon the ground
+by a stunning blow between the eyes that
+one of his captors found a chance to get in.</p>
+
+<p>It nearly knocked the breath out of his
+body and his wits went with it for the moment.</p>
+
+<p>When he came to himself again Tony
+had him by the collar and was lifting him
+up, while three tough-looking specimens
+stood around ready to help.</p>
+
+<p>The Boiling Pot had stopped boiling now
+and Charley was nowhere to be seen.</p>
+
+<p>“Say, Dick Darrell, brace up! Pull yourself
+together!” cried Tony. “Where’s Mudd
+and the gal?”</p>
+
+<p>“Find out,” panted Dick. “I’m not telling.
+What have you done with my friend?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, he’s gone back in the cave all right,
+I reckon,” chuckled Tony. “You’re a slick
+fighter, you are. See the black eye you
+have given my friend here? Never mind,
+though, you’ll be paid up for this.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick was silent. There was no chance
+for any further struggles, for his hands had
+been tied behind him and he knew by the
+feeling that his revolver had been taken
+away.</p>
+
+<p>“I guess Mudd is up to the hut all right,
+and the gal, too,” said Tony. “Hustle him
+along, boys. I’ll go ahead and make sure.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony ran on and by the time Dick
+reached the hut Martin Mudd came out to
+meet him, with Tony by his side.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, that’s the right boy,” he said, glancing
+at Dick. “I knew you wouldn’t desert
+me, Tony. I shan’t forget this.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, you see I fell in with these here
+friends of mine,” said Tony. “Old cow
+punchers, every one on ’em. I was going
+down to Node Ranch for help, but thought
+I might as well come back and help you out
+when I met them.”</p>
+
+<p>“Help me out still further by giving me
+a chance to talk to this boy,” said Mudd.
+“I’ve got something very important to say
+to him. With the girl stowed away in my
+place up in the loft the hut gives me just
+my chance.”</p>
+
+<p>“And you want us to stay out—is that
+the idea?” asked Tony.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“The boys won’t never consent to it while
+the whisky jug is inside, as they happen to
+know it is.”</p>
+
+<p>“Go in and get the jug and help yourselves.
+Here’s the key to the locker,” replied
+Mudd, thrusting his hand into his
+pocket, adding:</p>
+
+<p>“No, by Jove, it isn’t, either. I must have
+left it in the pocket of my other coat.
+Come on in and we’ll all have a drink.”</p>
+
+<p>“But what about the boy?” asked Tony.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, tumble him over on the ground. He
+can’t get up with his hands tied.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes he can, too.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[37]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Then tie his feet into the bargain and
+make sure. We won’t be gone ten minutes
+anyhow.”</p>
+
+<p>And this was just the way they served
+poor Dick.</p>
+
+<p>Tied hand and foot, he lay there on the
+shore of the lake filled with anxiety for
+his friends and forced to listen to the
+drunken songs and wild shouts of Mudd
+and his crew inside the hut.</p>
+
+<p>The proposed ten minutes had lengthened
+into an hour and still no one came out of
+the hut.</p>
+
+<p>Mudd seemed to have forgotten all about
+his proposed talk with Dick, until at last
+the door of the hut flew open and he came
+staggering along with his rusty old plug
+tilted back on his head and his necktie
+twisted around under his chin.</p>
+
+<p>“Hello, Dick—Dick Darrell,” he said,
+thickly. “Are you there?”</p>
+
+<p>“Can’t you see me?” replied Dick. “You
+could if you weren’t drunk.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t sass me, boy, for it won’t pay
+you,” replied Mudd, staggering up to Dick
+and sitting down upon the ground beside
+him.</p>
+
+<p>His back was now against a pile of rocks,
+which at this point cropped out upon the
+shore.</p>
+
+<p>“Let me free, Mudd,” said Dick. “Come,
+now, no use in us two quarreling. Let me
+free.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not a bit of use in our quarreling,” hiccoughed
+Mudd, “but I won’t set you free
+yet. Say, Dick Darrell, here’s the—here’s
+the—hic—the whole business in a clam
+shell. Clara’s father robbed your father
+of the big Gold Queen mine up in the Black
+Hills and hired a man to do your father
+up and he did.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you know this,” cried Dick. “You
+are pretty drunk, Mudd; do you feel sure
+you are speaking the truth?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure!” cried Mudd. “Why, of course,
+I’m sure! Hain’t I the—well, never mind.
+I was paid $5,000 to do you up all right,
+though, and Tom Eglinton is the man who
+paid the plunks. Burn him! He’s no good.
+That Gold Queen mine belongs to you,
+young feller, and it’s worth more’n a
+million, by Jove! Sign that air paper ’bout
+the hundred thousand dollars and I’ll give
+you evidence against Tom Eglinton what
+will hold good in any court—oh, great
+snakes, what’s this?”</p>
+
+<p>Dick was scarcely listening now—he was
+staring up at the rocks above Martin Mudd’s
+head.</p>
+
+<p>Over the edge of the rocks a monstrous
+head had just been thrust—it was the head
+of a Plesiosaurus—it dropped down and
+knocked off the battered plug.</p>
+
+<p>Mudd looked up and sprang to his feet
+with a frightened yell.</p>
+
+<p>“Got ’em again!” he bellowed loud enough
+to rival old P. D.</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[38]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">DICK IMPROVES HIS OPPORTUNITIES.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Shouting for help from the hut, Martin
+Mudd ran toward it and disappeared inside.</p>
+
+<p>But Dick was in no situation to defend
+himself from the monster, unfortunately.</p>
+
+<p>All he could do was to lie there and look,
+but, truth told, he was not much scared
+and rather anticipated what happened next.</p>
+
+<p>There was something wrong in the make-up
+of old P. D.’s head this time.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place the big, staring eyes
+were missing and in their stead were simply
+two empty sockets.</p>
+
+<p>If this, indeed, was a living Plesiosaurus
+it was a blind one, and, moreover, the scaly
+skin had a dried up, leathery appearance
+and the head fell down over the rocks after
+Martin Mudd ran away and just hung there
+limply.</p>
+
+<p>“A fake! A dead one!” flashed over Dick,
+and he added to himself: “This is some of
+Doctor Dan’s work.”</p>
+
+<p>And so it was. As Martin Mudd fled from
+the monster Doctor Dan came crawling out
+from behind the rocks, carrying a long
+stick in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>“Hush, boy! Don’t say a word!” he
+whispered. “I’ll have you free in just one
+minute. Ha! Ha! Ha! How he did run!”</p>
+
+<p>The Indian was shaking all over with
+suppressed laughter, as he cut the cords
+which held Dick a prisoner.</p>
+
+<p>“Good for you, doctor!” cried Dick,
+springing up. “What have you been doing;
+killing old P. D.?”</p>
+
+<p>“Not at all. That one is dead and it is
+only a fragment,” replied the Indian. He
+seized the dangling head and pulled and
+two or three yards of neck came whipping
+over the rocks and that was all there was
+to old P. D.</p>
+
+<p>It was all dried up and looked decidedly
+aged.</p>
+
+<p>“I ran this stick in under the jaw and
+just shook the head at him,” chuckled Doctor
+Dan. “Didn’t it scare him, though?
+Ha! Ha! Ha! Where is Charley, Dick?
+What in the world have you been about to
+let those fellows capture you? Oh, don’t be
+afraid of them. They are all dead drunk
+and asleep in the hut there but that man
+and he is such a coward that—ha—here he
+comes now.”</p>
+
+<p>Mudd stepped out of the hut at that moment.</p>
+
+<p>His jaw dropped when he saw Dick free
+and Doctor Dan with him.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently Martin Mudd believed in the
+old adage that “he who fights and runs
+away may live to fight another day,” for he
+ran off up the lake shore as fast as his condition
+would allow.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan gave chase and fired two
+or three shots after him, but he did not
+catch the man and actually did not try.</p>
+
+<p>Mudd disappeared among the rocks which
+lined the shore, and the Indian soon returned
+and joined Dick in front of the hut.</p>
+
+<p>Dick was listening at the door and he
+held up his finger as Doctor Dan approached.</p>
+
+<p>“There’s one of them moving about inside
+there,” he whispered. “Keep still.”</p>
+
+<p>“Let ’em move,” said Doctor Dan. “Who
+are they, anyway? I looked in through the
+window and saw a lot of fellows lying about
+drunk in there, but they are all strangers
+to me. Say, where’s Charley, Dick?”</p>
+
+<p>“Dead, I’m afraid,” replied Dick, hoarsely.<span class="pagenum">[39]</span>
+“Help me, doctor! That young lady I told
+you about is a prisoner in there. I’ll explain
+later, but we must settle with these
+fellows first.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll soon settle ’em,” chuckled Doctor
+Dan. “I’ll send them after your friend
+Mudd.”</p>
+
+<p>He ran back to the rocks and soon returned
+dragging the head of the Plesiosaurus
+after him, but it was not needed. All
+was quiet inside the hut now and when
+Dick ventured to open the door softly they
+were all sound asleep.</p>
+
+<p>Tony lay in the bunk, but the others were
+stretched out upon the floor.</p>
+
+<p>“Keep your eye on ’em, doctor,” whispered
+Dick, and he made for the loft ladder.</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments Clara came down the
+ladder and Dick quickly followed her.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan took off his hat politely and
+Dick introduced Clara when they got outside.</p>
+
+<p>“Most happy to make your acquaintance,
+miss,” said the guide. “I have met your
+father. Once I had trouble with him. He
+got angry with me when I was guiding a
+party of prospectors among the Black Hills
+and tried to kill me. He shot at me twice,
+but I escaped. I only mention this so you
+may know just who I am.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick was greatly troubled. Clara turned
+red and pale again as she took Dick’s arm.</p>
+
+<p>“Doctor Dan,” she said, very quietly, “I
+know my father is a hard man. I can only
+say that I am sorry that—that——”</p>
+
+<p>“Say nothing,” broke in Doctor Dan. “I
+am an Indian, but I bear no malice toward
+you, miss. As for your father——”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t doctor! Please don’t for my sake!”
+pleaded Dick.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I’d do a good deal for your sake,
+young fellow,” said Doctor Dan. “I’m dumb.
+Come on. We want to get away from here.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not without old P. D.’s head,” said Dick.
+“It is most valuable to me. I shall ship it
+to Washington at the earliest opportunity.
+I’ll carry it if it is too heavy for you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Heavy! Nonsense! What am I here
+for?” replied Doctor Dan. He picked up
+the head, which, with the neck, must have
+weighed at least forty pounds, and walked
+off down the shore, leaving Dick and Clara
+to follow as they pleased.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m afraid of that man,” said Clara. “Oh,
+Dick, it is terrible to hear my father spoken
+of so, and yet——”</p>
+
+<p>Clara paused. Dick said nothing. He
+was beginning to think that Mr. Eglinton
+must be a pretty bad man.</p>
+
+<p>“And yet,” continued Clara, after a moment,
+“I am afraid my father is not a very
+good man. Oh, Dick, I hate to say it, but
+after what you have done for me I ought to
+tell you—to warn you. Martin Mudd has
+had dealings with my father. On that very
+night when he tried to kill you in Washington
+he had just left our house and—and—Dick,
+do look out for yourself. Don’t go
+with me to the Gold Queen mine on any
+account.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m not afraid,” replied Dick, “but I am
+going to do just as you say, Clara.”</p>
+
+<p>“If my father has robbed you of what
+rightfully belongs to you he shall make it
+good!” cried Clara, her eyes flashing.
+“Leave it to me, Dick. I am the only one
+in the world who has any influence with
+him.”</p>
+
+<p>“If he had robbed me of a million and it
+was going to do you harm to try to get it
+back again I would not make a move,” whispered
+Dick.</p>
+
+<p>Clara turned away, her face suffused with
+blushes.</p>
+
+<p>Arm in arm they walked along the shore.</p>
+
+<p>Had Dick fallen in love?</p>
+
+<p>Certainly it began to look very much
+that way.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">THE SLEEPING PLESIOSAURUS.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>It was not until Dick and Clara had
+reached the Boiling Pot that the girl spoke
+again.</p>
+
+<p>“Where is Charley?” she asked. “Why
+isn’t he here?”</p>
+
+<p>Then Dick called a halt and told the
+whole story.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan had been waiting for them
+and he listened with close attention.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a bad business,” he said. “In all
+probability Charley has been sucked down
+into that underground river again, but as
+he went down once and escaped, he may
+have escaped a second time. Anyhow, let
+us hope so. Now, Dick, don’t you want to
+know how I came to be here, and where I
+got the head that scared your friend Mudd
+so?”</p>
+
+<p>“Indeed I do,” replied Dick, “and I want
+you to understand that I don’t give up hope
+about Charley at all, but one thing is certain,
+we have got to go down into the cavern
+and see if we can find him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure,” said Doctor Dan, “and we will
+find him. Now listen to me. There seem
+to be many ways into that cavern. I’ve
+been there. I found the Plesiosaurus’ head
+there. I came upon an opening in the rocks
+away over on the other side of the lake,
+near our camp, and, following it up, it took
+me into the cavern. I came out the same
+way you did. I crossed the underground
+river and, what is more, I struck your
+trail. I can take you back to camp the
+same way and we can hunt for Charley as
+we go.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[40]</span></p>
+
+<p>This seemed to be entirely the correct
+scheme and Dick and Doctor Dan lost no
+time in carrying it out.</p>
+
+<p>The only objection Dick made was that
+they would have to work in the dark, but
+this Doctor Dan soon disposed of by producing
+a lantern, which he had brought
+along with him and hidden among the rocks
+in the canyon.</p>
+
+<p>Then they hurried on to the stone steps
+and were soon down in the cavern once
+more.</p>
+
+<p>Armed with the lantern, Doctor Dan went
+ahead and had no difficulty in following
+his own trail, for the floor of the cavern
+was composed of soft sand and the guide’s
+footsteps plainly showed.</p>
+
+<p>Now we have said but little about Dick’s
+anxiety for Charley, because there has been
+so much to tell, but it was of the keenest
+kind.</p>
+
+<p>As they walked along by the side of the
+underground river Dick kept shouting
+Charley’s name, as he had done before,
+hoping to get an answer, and before they
+had gone any great distance sure enough
+he did.</p>
+
+<p>Of course this threw the whole party into
+a great state of excitement and they hurried
+forward and soon came upon Charley,
+who was running toward them along the
+river bank.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s all right, Dick!” he shouted. “I
+came down as easy as you please. No
+trouble about the Boiling Pot once you
+know how to handle yourself in it. Hello,
+doctor. How in the world did you get over
+this side of the lake? Oh, Dick, I’ve got
+such news to tell!”</p>
+
+<p>Charley was so excited that he could
+hardly wait until Dick had told what happened
+at the hut, although he insisted upon
+hearing it all before he would explain.</p>
+
+<p>“We have got to look sharp or that scoundrel
+Mudd will finish us up sooner or later,”
+he exclaimed. “Now, then, Dick, what do
+you suppose I have found?”</p>
+
+<p>“Give it up, but I wish you would tell,”
+replied Dick. “Out with it! We are all
+dying to hear.”</p>
+
+<p>“Old P. D. asleep!”</p>
+
+<p>“What!”</p>
+
+<p>“Old P. D. asleep, I tell you. Oh, I mean
+it! This cave is a wonderful place. You
+haven’t seen half of it yet, nor I, either,
+for that matter. You see I landed on the
+other side of the river this time and I had
+to swim across, but before I did it I browsed
+around there a bit and made my discovery.
+I was working down to the steps when I
+met you. Keep the lantern down lower,
+doctor, so that I may follow my trail.
+There, that’s right. Dick, I believe we can
+catch old P. D. after all and hold him till
+we can get Prof. Poynter up here.”</p>
+
+<p>“It would be a big triumph if we could,”
+said Dick. “But I am waiting to have you
+tell me more about it, Charley. How did
+you make all these discoveries in the dark?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, it wasn’t done in the dark,” replied
+Charley. “I found a lantern here. It
+went out a few moments ago for want of
+oil, so I left it behind me. Oh, I haven’t
+told you all I have discovered yet.”</p>
+
+<p>“Let’s have the rest of it then,” said
+Doctor Dan. “Hello! Here’s your lantern
+now.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[41]</span></p>
+
+<p>There it stood on the sand, close to the
+river bank. Charley ran ahead and picked
+it up. “Here’s where I crossed. It’s only
+knee deep—all stones in the channel. We
+have got to get over, but what will Clara
+do?”</p>
+
+<p>“In a case like this if it is only knee deep
+I guess I can manage it,” said Clara. “I’m
+not afraid of getting my feet wet, Charley,
+when you are wet to the skin from head to
+foot.”</p>
+
+<p>“Wait,” said Doctor Dan; “let me go over
+first and see.”</p>
+
+<p>He pulled off his shoes and stockings,
+rolled up his trousers and waded across,
+but Charley plunged right in and crossed,
+for he could not have been wetter than he
+already was.</p>
+
+<p>“I can carry you across, miss, if you will
+let me,” called Doctor Dan, as he started
+back. “Don’t be afraid of me. I won’t hurt
+you even if I am an Indian and your father
+is my enemy.”</p>
+
+<p>“Go, Clara. It will please him,” whispered
+Dick.</p>
+
+<p>“Certainly I will let you,” replied Clara,
+and Doctor Dan stooped down, gathered the
+girl’s skirts together about her ankles, then
+lifted her up and carried her across the
+stream as easily as though she had been a
+baby.</p>
+
+<p>Dick hastily followed and they had no
+sooner joined Charley on the other side
+than he picked up the lantern and hurried
+forward away from the river so fast
+that they could hardly keep up with him.</p>
+
+<p>“We are right there now!” he called out.
+“Come on! Come on!”</p>
+
+<p>To their surprise a few moments later
+they emerged from the cavern and found
+themselves standing under the stars.</p>
+
+<p>“Hello!” cried Doctor Dan; “this beats
+me. I had no idea of anything like this.”</p>
+
+<p>It was a most peculiar spot. Before them
+lay a broad pool of water, perhaps a hundred
+yards across, beyond which was a low
+ridge of rocks, and over this they could
+look off upon the Bad Lands for miles and
+miles.</p>
+
+<p>“There you are!” cried Charley, pointing
+down into the pool. “He lies just as I left
+him—old P. D. asleep!”</p>
+
+<p>Sure enough, at the bottom of the pool,
+with its head tucked in under its huge
+body, lay a specimen of the strange prehistoric
+monster which Dick and Charley
+had come up into the Bad Lands to find.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">LASSOING OLD P. D.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“Is it asleep or is it dead?” asked Clara,
+after they had watched the Plesiosaurus for
+several moments in silence.</p>
+
+<p>“Asleep,” said Charley, decidedly. “It
+moved twice while I was watching it. Now,
+Dick, this is only part of my discovery.
+I——”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, and I can tell you the rest,” said
+Dick, pointing over toward the rocky ridge
+beyond the pool. “We are not the first ones
+who have been here.”</p>
+
+<p>“Indeed we are not,” replied Charley.
+“You see?”</p>
+
+<p>There was a rude hut near the ridge and
+lying on the ground outside were two huge
+coils of rope, one almost as big round as a
+steamer’s hawser.</p>
+
+<p>Charley led the way around the pool and
+when they got to the hut Dick saw that a
+stout post ten feet high had been driven
+into the ground with big notches cut into
+it. In the hut were axes, crowbars and
+other tools; also a great roll of canvas and
+various other things. Charley explained
+that he found the lantern here.</p>
+
+<p>“Looks to me as though some one had
+brought all these things here for the express
+purpose of capturing old P. D.,” said Dick,
+“but they have been here a long while,
+Charley.”</p>
+
+<p>“For several years,” said Doctor Dan.
+“Strange that I never heard of this and I
+thought I knew the Bad Lands pretty well,
+too.”</p>
+
+<p>“Some one has tried it,” said Charley;
+“probably the pool is a regular hangout for
+this particular Plesiosaurus. There must be
+some connection with the underground
+river and the lake. I believe the scheme
+was to make a slip noose, drop it around old
+P. D.’s neck and tie him up to the post here
+until such time as some means could be
+found of getting him out.”</p>
+
+<p>“It would never work,” said Doctor Dan.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m not so sure,” said Dick. “We might
+succeed in tying him, anyway, and keeping
+him here in the pool till we could get help.”</p>
+
+<p>“Let’s try it, Dick,” said Charley, eagerly.
+“I go in for it.”</p>
+
+<p>“I think it might be done,” said Clara.
+“What a strange looking creature it is to be
+sure! Anyone could make their fortune
+by exhibiting it in the States.”</p>
+
+<p>“It will never be exhibited if we succeed
+in snaring it,” said Dick. “It belongs to the
+Smithsonian the moment it comes into our
+hands.”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you say, doctor?” he added.
+“Shall we try it on?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m at your service, boys,” replied the
+Indian. “I can throw a lasso as well as any
+man alive and I think I ought to be able to
+drop a noose around that fellow’s neck, but,
+before we begin I think we had better see
+how we are going to get out of here. I
+want to take a look over these rocks.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s a trail down the mountain—pretty<span class="pagenum">[42]</span>
+steep, but still a trail,” declared
+Charley.</p>
+
+<p>One glance showed them that he was
+right. The trail was indeed steep and it
+had a strangely smooth and worn appearance,
+especially at a point where there was
+a break in the rocks and where it seemed
+to begin.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, he’s lifting up his head!” cried
+Clara. “He’s waking up!”</p>
+
+<p>The Plesiosaurus perhaps had been disturbed
+by the loud talking. Slowly the
+great head came up through the water, rose
+above the surface and surveyed the party
+with its huge eyes in a fashion which
+seemed to show a decided bump of curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly its mouth opened and the monster
+let out one mighty bellow which made
+the rocks around fairly ring.</p>
+
+<p>Clara screamed in terror, but old P. D.
+drew his head down in a dignified way and
+tucked it under his body again.</p>
+
+<p>“I could have lassoed him then!” cried
+Doctor Dan. “Pity we didn’t have the rope
+ready.”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll get it ready right away,” said Dick,
+“for he may take a notion to have another
+look at us any moment. I wonder if this
+post will hold.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s pretty firm,” said Doctor Dan, trying
+it. “I feel more worried about the rope.
+Lay hold here, boys, we will unwind it and
+tie one end to the post. Leave the knots
+to me. I’ll fix them so that two P. D.’s
+could not unloose them, but I don’t want to
+guarantee that the rope won’t break.”</p>
+
+<p>It took half an hour of good hard work to
+get everything in readiness and during all
+that time old P. D. had never moved.</p>
+
+<p>As there would be no chance to lasso him
+until he did, Dick and Charley undertook
+to stir the monster up by throwing big
+stones into the pool.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Clara had taken her place at
+the top of the ridge behind the hut, rather
+a dangerous spot, too, for behind her there
+was a sheer descent down over the cliffs of
+several hundred feet to a narrow ledge below.</p>
+
+<p>“Give him another, Dick,” cried Charley.
+“I’m sure my last one hit him, but he never
+budged.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick let another stone fly and with such
+good effect that it struck the Plesiosaurus
+square on the back.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately the monster threw up its
+head and the water began to boil.</p>
+
+<p>Up came the long neck and the head was
+thrust angrily out of the pool.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan, with a peculiar cry, flung his
+huge lasso and it dropped down over the
+monster’s head.</p>
+
+<p>“Pull! Pull!” shouted the Indian. “We
+have got him if we can only hold him!”</p>
+
+<p>Dick and Charley were at the other end
+of the rope and they pulled with all their
+strength, old P. D. giving out his frightful
+cry as the rope tightened about his neck.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly his whole huge body rose to the
+surface and he darted forward toward the
+shore.</p>
+
+<p>The rope flew taut and snapped short off
+close to the post with a suddenness and a
+force which threw down Dick, Charley and
+Doctor Dan.</p>
+
+<p>Clara screamed and once more the Plesiosaurus
+gave its dreadful bellow.</p>
+
+<p>Its huge webbed feet were on the shore
+now and it darted its head, with open jaws,
+straight down toward Doctor Dan, who
+was trying to regain his feet.</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum">[43]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">MUDD ON TOP AGAIN.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Dick and Charley fully realized Dr. Dan’s
+danger, but what could they do?</p>
+
+<p>The dangerous attempt to snare the
+Plesiosaurus had not only been a complete
+failure, but a fearful mistake, for a few
+seconds later it looked as if Dr. Dan was
+doomed.</p>
+
+<p>The Plesiosaurus caught him just as it
+had caught Dick.</p>
+
+<p>It did not bite the Indian, nor even seize
+him in its terrible jaws, as one might have
+expected, but with lightning quickness it
+ran its head under Dr. Dan, and the next
+Dick and Charley knew it had him twisted
+in a fold of its long neck, and went waddling
+off toward the steep, slippery trail
+down the mountain.</p>
+
+<p>“Fire at him, boys! Fire! Save me if
+you can!” shouted the unfortunate guide.</p>
+
+<p>Until then the boys had just stood there
+dumb with the horror of the situation.</p>
+
+<p>How could they fire?</p>
+
+<p>Dick’s revolver had been taken from him
+by Martin Mudd. Charley had lost his
+coming down through the Boiling Pot. Dr.
+Dan himself was the only man who was
+armed.</p>
+
+<p>“Work yourself out! I did!” yelled Dick.
+“Can’t fire! Got no revolver! I won’t desert
+you, though! I’ll follow on!”</p>
+
+<p>The Plesiosaurus had now disappeared
+down the trail.</p>
+
+<p>It went sliding down over the slippery
+rocks, and now the boys were able to understand
+what made it so smooth. Probably
+this had been the monster’s path for
+years.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, it’s terrible! Terrible!” cried Clara.
+“Oh, Dick! Can nothing be done to save
+that man?”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s his rifle now, standing against
+the hut!” cried Charley. “Why didn’t we
+think of it before?”</p>
+
+<p>Dick made a rush for the rifle, and
+sprang to the head of the trail.</p>
+
+<p>“It will do no good, anyhow, but here
+goes!” he cried.</p>
+
+<p>He fired, but with no result, just as he
+had anticipated.</p>
+
+<p>The bullet struck the monster on its
+scaly back and glanced off as if it had
+been fired against boiler plate.</p>
+
+<p>Down the steep slope the Plesiosaurus
+went sliding.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Dan’s cries grew fainter. All gave
+the faithful guide up for lost.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s no use!” groaned Dick. “I must go
+after him, though. I said I would, and so
+I will!”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Dick, don’t go! Don’t go!” pleaded
+Clara.</p>
+
+<p>“For gracious sake don’t try it!” shouted
+Charley. “It’s all your life is worth,
+Dick!”</p>
+
+<p>But Dick had already started, and there
+was no such thing as holding him back.</p>
+
+<p>And yet if he had only known it, there
+was a safe and easy way down over those
+cliffs not ten yards distant from the hut.</p>
+
+<p>But the way Dick had taken was not only
+very difficult, but highly dangerous. It
+was frightfully steep, too, with scarce a
+foothold, and as smooth as glass.</p>
+
+<p>Down this terrible incline the Plesiosaurus
+slid easily enough, and no doubt it had<span class="pagenum">[44]</span>
+come up the same way many times, its
+queer webbed feet acting as suckers like the
+feet of a fly.</p>
+
+<p>But Dick possessed no such power.</p>
+
+<p>He could only crouch down “on his
+hunkies,” as the boys say, and go sliding
+along after old P. D.</p>
+
+<p>What if he should overtake the monster
+and run into him? he could not help thinking;
+but there was no such danger, for old
+P. D. went faster than he could go by far,
+and yet to Dick it seemed as though he
+was sliding down with lightning speed.</p>
+
+<p>When he reached the level ridge below
+he struck it with such force that he went
+over on his face, hitting his head and
+knocking the wits out of him for the moment.</p>
+
+<p>The next he knew he was scrambling up
+trying to save himself from slipping over
+the edge of another precipice, the ground
+slipping away under his feet.</p>
+
+<p>Dick drew back in horror just in time to
+save himself.</p>
+
+<p>Springing aside on the firmer ground, he
+found himself looking down into a deep,
+narrow valley inclosed on all sides.</p>
+
+<p>There was a lake at the bottom of this
+valley, and Dick saw old P. D. in the act of
+slipping into it.</p>
+
+<p>The monster threw up its head as the big
+body sank beneath the water, and gave one
+parting bellow, and after that Dick saw
+him no more, nor did he think of him, for
+there lying upon the ground at no great distance
+away was Dr. Dan.</p>
+
+<p>Dick ran to the guide and tried to raise
+him up.</p>
+
+<p>The unfortunate man seemed to be entirely
+unconscious, and yet there was no
+sign of any wound upon him.</p>
+
+<p>Dick began to think that it was pretty
+well demonstrated that the Plesiosaurus did
+not feed on human flesh. The monster had
+just squeezed the life out of poor Dr. Dan
+and dropped him before it started on its
+second descent, that was all.</p>
+
+<p>Dick threw down the rifle and raised the
+Indian’s head, calling his name again and
+again; but Dr. Dan showed no sign of life.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, he’s dead! He’s dead!” cried Dick.
+“What shall I do?”</p>
+
+<p>“Do drop him!” said a sneering voice behind
+him. “His name is Mud, and so is
+mine, and so is yours, too, Dick Darrell, unless
+you and I can come to terms.”</p>
+
+<p>There he was!</p>
+
+<p>The same old Martin Mudd, and there
+stood Tony beside him grinning.</p>
+
+<p>Both held revolvers, and both covered
+Dick as the boy slowly rose to his feet to
+face his enemies once more.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">IS THIS STRANGE STORY TRUE?</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>It was decidedly despairing.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, Dick was intensely puzzled to
+understand how Mudd and Tony came to be
+there.</p>
+
+<p>The fact was Dick still had a lot to learn
+about the twists and turns of this mysterious
+mountain.</p>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact he was now on the
+trail leading over into the Black Hills, and
+not far from the spot where the attack had
+been made on Clara, and, if he had but
+known it, he was also at no great distance
+from the hut at the head of Izard Lake.
+There was a path known to Mudd and his
+friends leading down from the hut to the
+trail of which Dick had no knowledge at
+all.</p>
+
+<p>Both men had sobered up a bit now, and
+were fully able to take care of themselves
+and of Dick, too, as they soon demonstrated,
+for they pounced upon the boy, and, each
+catching him by an arm, hurried him along
+the trail.</p>
+
+<p>“Well met, my noble young scientist!”
+said Mudd, sneeringly. “We had given up
+all hope of finding you. Where are your
+friends, Master Charles Nicholson and Miss
+Clara Eglinton, just at the present time?”</p>
+
+<p>“Find out,” retorted Dick. “I shall tell
+you nothing, Mr. Mudd; so you may as well
+hold your tongue.”</p>
+
+<p>“Civil, upon my word,” sneered Mudd.
+“Did you ever hear such gentlemanly language,
+Tony? Ha! Ha! It takes these
+young Washington sprigs to come out here
+in the wild and woolly West and show us
+how to do it. I take it from the way you
+put it that they did not make a meal for
+that long-necked what-you-may-call-him, as
+I at first supposed.”</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Mudd,” said Dick, with all the calmness
+he could assume, “I want nothing to do
+with you. You have captured me again,
+and I can’t help it, but if you expect to
+make anything out of me, let me tell you
+right now, you are going to get left.”</p>
+
+<p>“Indeed!” exclaimed Mudd. “My lord
+puts it plain. But then, you see, my lord
+does not understand the situation. Now,
+then, here we are. Tony, you go ahead
+and see if the boss is coming. Blow the
+whistle as soon as you catch sight of him
+to give me warning. I want to have my
+trump card all ready to play, and that
+same trump card is this boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t forget to play a trump card for
+me, boss,” growled Tony. “I don’t want
+to kick none, and I hain’t a-kicking, but it
+does seem to me of late that in all this business
+you are only figuring on lining your
+own pockets and leaving me out in the
+cold.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[45]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Rats! Rubbish! Get along with you!”
+roared Mudd, with a fierce display of
+drunken anger.</p>
+
+<p>Tony hurried on up the trail and never
+said a word, while Mudd motioned Dick
+into a small cave which opened in under the
+cliff.</p>
+
+<p>Not for one instant had he failed to keep
+Dick covered, and to have attempted to
+escape from him would have surely meant
+death.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, sit down there, boy, and listen to
+me,” said Mudd, pointing to a big flat
+stone; “and before I begin to talk I’ll tell
+you one thing. I am going to shoot you
+dead at the first move you make toward escaping;
+do you understand?”</p>
+
+<p>“I do,” replied Dick. “I’m badly shaken
+up, Mr. Mudd. I am going to sit still here
+for a while. You might just as well put
+your revolver up. I shan’t attempt to escape.”</p>
+
+<p>“Come, now, that’s sensible.”</p>
+
+<p>“I try to be sensible at all times.”</p>
+
+<p>“So do I, boy. I am going to be sensible
+now. I’m going to try to come to terms
+with you once for all. If I fail now, I shall
+never try again, and you will probably be
+shot by the order of Colonel Tom Eglinton,
+whom I expect here in twenty minutes’
+time.”</p>
+
+<p>Dick was silent. He did not know
+whether to believe this or not. He did not
+know what to say, so he said nothing at
+all.</p>
+
+<p>“I see you don’t believe me,” continued
+Mudd; “but it is true, just the same. I
+have sent for Eglinton, and he is coming
+down here to ransom his daughter. Perhaps
+you wonder how I dare to meet him
+alone, and if you do, look behind you. Ha!
+Ha! We were all drunk a while ago, but
+we are all sober enough to attend to business
+now. You ought to have finished up
+your work at the hut, young fellow. You
+and your friend, Doctor Dan.”</p>
+
+<p>There they sat in the back of the cave,
+the same old gang.</p>
+
+<p>Each man had his rifle lying across his
+knees; they were silent and motionless, but
+Dick saw that they were ready for business
+just the same.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, what do you think of that?” demanded
+Mudd. “Am I up and dressed or
+am I asleep? Answer me that, boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, what’s the use bothering to answer
+you?” retorted Dick. “You have got the
+big end of the stick, that’s all there is about
+it—go ahead.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well, then,” said Mudd, dropping
+his voice to a whisper. “Dick Darrell, listen
+to me. You are the true owner of the
+Gold Queen mine. The claim was located
+by your father. It adjoins one which was
+worked out belonging to Colonel Tom Eglinton,
+and he made up his mind to join
+the two properties together, and when old
+Tom Eglinton once sets his heart on accomplishing
+a certain object I want you to
+understand, something has got to give.”</p>
+
+<p>“All this is old business,” said Dick, as
+Mudd paused for breath. “Tell me something
+new.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s what I will. Tom Eglinton tried
+to buy your father out, but he wouldn’t sell.
+Then he hired a man to pick a quarrel with
+him and shoot him, which was done. Oh,
+you needn’t glare at me, Dick Darrell. It’s
+true. I’ve got the papers about me to prove
+it. I have papers which prove the mine
+his. I’ve got Colonel Tom’s letters to me
+offering me money to kill you. There!
+What do you think of that?”</p>
+
+<p>“Want to know?” demanded Dick.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, I do.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, then, I think you are the man who
+killed my father and——”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Dick! Dick!”</p>
+
+<p>It was Clara!</p>
+
+<p>Calling out Dick’s name she rushed into
+the cave, and, without the slightest ceremony,
+threw her arms about his neck, calling
+out:</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Dick, I am so glad you are alive!”</p>
+
+<p>“Cool, upon my word!” cried Mudd. “By
+thunder, here comes the other one, too!
+What manners these city folks have!”</p>
+
+<p>In rushed Charley, but he halted at the
+sight of Mudd and the men at the back of
+the cave.</p>
+
+<p>“Stand there!” cried Mudd, throwing up
+his revolver. “You are all my prisoners,
+every one of you! Stand there where you
+are, or——”</p>
+
+<p>A sharp whistle sounded further up the
+trail.</p>
+
+<p>Was Clara’s father coming?</p>
+
+<p>Dick thought so as he gently disengaged
+the girl’s arms from about his neck.</p>
+
+<p>It was rather an awkward time to be introduced
+to Colonel Tom Eglinton, the
+millionaire mine owner of the Black Hills.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.
+<br /><span class="cheaderfont">CONCLUSION.</span></h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>“Wake up there, you drunken brutes!
+Wake up there, and help me guard these
+boys and this girl!”</p>
+
+<p>Martin Mudd was in a furious rage.</p>
+
+<p>His crack guards were all sound asleep
+again.</p>
+
+<p>They had brought what was left of the
+whisky along with them, and it had done
+its work.</p>
+
+<p>The consequence was that Mudd, who did
+not dare to move to shake them up, was
+rather at his wit’s ends to know what to
+do.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[46]</span></p>
+
+<p>There he stood with a cocked revolver in
+each hand.</p>
+
+<p>One covered Charley and the other covered
+Dick.</p>
+
+<p>Clara was screaming out for him not to
+shoot, and Mudd himself was roaring lustily
+to his drunken companions, who never
+even stirred.</p>
+
+<p>Now, if anyone thinks that Dick Darrell
+and Charley Nicholson were the sort to let
+such a situation as this last long, they are
+very greatly mistaken.</p>
+
+<p>In far less time than it has taken to describe
+said situation the boys brought it to
+an end.</p>
+
+<p>Both made a rush for Mudd, utterly ignoring
+the revolvers.</p>
+
+<p>Mudd fired.</p>
+
+<p>The next instant Dick had him by the
+throat and had wrenched one revolver
+away, Mudd losing his hold on the other in
+the struggle which followed, and it fell to
+the ground.</p>
+
+<p>“Give me those papers! Throw them
+down, or I’ll fire!” shouted Dick, covering
+the scoundrel. “I believe on my soul you
+are the man who killed my father, and——”</p>
+
+<p>“Hold on! Hold on! I’ll do it!” yelled
+Mudd, in terror.</p>
+
+<p>He thrust his hand into the pocket of his
+coat, and, drawing out a flat package done
+up in greasy brown paper, threw it to the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Dick, look at Charley! He’s shot!”
+screamed Clara at the same instant.</p>
+
+<p>Dick foolishly turned his head in answer
+to this startling cry.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Charley’s face was as white as a
+sheet; he was slowly sinking down.</p>
+
+<p>Clara sprang to help him, but she was too
+late; he fell all in a heap, and at the same
+moment Mudd closed on Dick again.</p>
+
+<p>He got his arm about the boy’s neck, the
+revolver fell to the ground, but Mudd never
+stopped to pick it up. He dragged Dick out
+of the cave—dragged him toward the edge
+of the precipice on the opposite side of the
+trail.</p>
+
+<p>“Burn you, Dick Darrell!” he hissed.
+“You have gone a step too far this time. I
+did kill your father, and I’ll kill you!”</p>
+
+<p>Bang! Bang!</p>
+
+<p>Two shots suddenly rang out along the
+trail.</p>
+
+<p>It was Doctor Dan.</p>
+
+<p>He was bare-headed and his long hair
+was flying in the wind.</p>
+
+<p>Two shots from his rifle went whizzing
+past Dick and Mudd.</p>
+
+<p>They were not aimed to hit, as Doctor
+Dan explained afterward. He did not dare
+to, for fear of hitting Dick.</p>
+
+<p>But Martin Mudd, coward that he was,
+had no notion of facing the Indian.</p>
+
+<p>He struggled to free himself, and Dick
+let him go.</p>
+
+<p>“Hold him!” cried Doctor Dan. “Don’t
+let him escape, Dick, or our troubles will
+never end!”</p>
+
+<p>It was too late.</p>
+
+<p>Mudd was on the run already.</p>
+
+<p>In his half dazed condition from the
+whisky he had aboard his steps were somewhat
+uncertain as he went dashing along
+the trail.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he staggered perilously near the
+edge of the precipice; the disintegrated
+rock was not able to bear his weight, and it
+gave way beneath him.</p>
+
+<p>Throwing up his hands with a frightful
+yell, Martin Mudd went rolling down into
+the valley.</p>
+
+<p>With bated breath Dick and Doctor Dan
+watched him. The end came when with a
+splash which they could just hear the
+wretched man dropped into the lake.</p>
+
+<p>Doubtless he was dead before he struck
+the water, for he never rose again.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Doctor! You have saved my life!
+But poor Charley is a goner!” gasped Dick.
+“Come—come!”</p>
+
+<p>A horse was pounding furiously down the
+trail.</p>
+
+<p>“Let’s hope for the best,” replied Doctor
+Dan. “You thought I was gone, but I was
+only winded from the terrible pressure of
+that brute. I knew when you bent over me,
+Dick, but I couldn’t speak, and—hello!
+Here’s another one of them. Hold on
+there! Hold on!”</p>
+
+<p>It was Tony. Down the trail he came
+dashing furiously.</p>
+
+<p>“Hold up!” he cried. “Don’t shoot. I
+saw Mudd go down from the heights above
+here. I’m out of it. There’s a big force
+coming from the Gold Queen!”</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>Two weeks later Dick Darrell stepped off
+of a Pullman car at the B. &amp; O. depot in
+the city of Washington.</p>
+
+<p>Leaning upon his shoulder was a young
+man looking pale and interesting, who had
+evidently been very sick—our old friend
+Charley, of course.</p>
+
+<p>Behind him came a tall, handsome Indian
+dressed in ordinary clothes.</p>
+
+<p>Here was our party home again from the
+Bad Lands, and as their adventures were
+now all over, we must bring our story to a
+speedy conclusion.</p>
+
+<p>The arrival of the party from the Gold
+Queen was the work of Bill Struthers, the
+treacherous guide, who changed his mind
+upon arriving at the mine and made a
+clean breast of the whole affair to Colonel
+Eglinton, who immediately organized a
+force to go to his daughter’s relief.</p>
+
+<p>They were too late to deal with Martin
+Mudd, for the man had gone to his long
+account and no effort was even made to<span class="pagenum">[47]</span>
+find his body. As for the rest, drunken
+men are easily captured—there was no resistance
+made at the cave.</p>
+
+<p>Charley was badly wounded, but Doctor
+Dan extracted the bullet which had entered
+his side, and the boy was able to hobble
+back to camp.</p>
+
+<p>The next day with Dick and Doctor Dan
+he rode to Node ranch, where he lay very
+ill for a week, but after that began to
+mend.</p>
+
+<p>Now, so far, we have not said a word
+about Clara, for that involves an explanation
+of a painful shock which came to the
+poor girl.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Eglinton was not with his men,
+and for a very good reason.</p>
+
+<p>Just as the party was starting out from
+the Gold Queen mine Colonel Eglinton fell
+off his horse and never spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>He was dead—dead of heart disease
+which had long threatened him, and it was
+Clara’s sad task to take his body on to
+Washington for burial.</p>
+
+<p>Dick met her at Node ranch and rendered
+her every assistance in his power. He
+wanted to go East with her, but she would
+no more hear to his leaving Charley then
+than she would when Dick wanted to go
+with her to the mine when Tony first communicated
+his sad news.</p>
+
+<p>When Charley was able to be moved Doctor
+Dan concluded to go with the boys, and
+the day following their arrival Dick went
+to the Smithsonian with the guide and
+made his report.</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately, however, they had nothing
+to show to prove the existence of old
+P. D., for even the head of the Plesiosaurus
+which Doctor Dan had found in the underground
+cavern had been left behind.</p>
+
+<p>Professor Poynter was greatly excited at
+the report Dick rendered, and we may as
+well tell the end of the monster business
+right here.</p>
+
+<p>A new expedition was promptly dispatched
+to the Bad Lands, with Dick and
+Doctor Dan in command.</p>
+
+<p>But disappointment awaited them. Something
+had happened in Dick’s absence. Probably
+it was an earthquake, but he never
+knew.</p>
+
+<p>At all events, great masses of rock had
+fallen down upon the trail, rendering it
+entirely impassable, and when they tried
+to get up to Izard Lake by way of the cavern
+the same state of affairs was found to
+exist there.</p>
+
+<p>Even the Gold Queen’s trail was cut off
+and from that day to this no one has ever
+been able to reach Izard Lake, and access
+to the mine is had by another way.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Dan is still working on the problem,
+and some day he may find a way.
+When he does the world will doubtless be
+astonished to find that the prehistoric monster
+known as the Plesiosaurus still exists.</p>
+
+<p>A few words more and our story is done.</p>
+
+<p>Those papers!</p>
+
+<p>Dick pocketed them when he returned to
+the cave.</p>
+
+<p>Later he studied them carefully. Later
+still he showed them to a prominent lawyer
+in Washington. A week after that the lawyer
+rendered his report.</p>
+
+<p>“You are unquestionably the owner of the
+Gold Queen mine,” he said. “I’ll take up
+your case for you. Nine-tenths of the stock
+is held by Tom Eglinton’s estate, and his
+daughter is the sole heir. The mine is
+yours, young man, and we are sure to win.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you,” replied Dick. “Send me
+your bill and I’ll pay it. There will be no
+case.”</p>
+
+<p>He took the papers and threw them into
+the open grate fire before the lawyer could
+stay his hand.</p>
+
+<p>“You’re a fool, boy!” cried the lawyer,
+angrily.</p>
+
+<p>“Am I?” replied Dick. “Well, I think
+not.”</p>
+
+<p>“But——”</p>
+
+<p>“Wait, sir. Let me tell you a secret,”
+said Dick. “You say Clara Eglinton is the
+sole heir?”</p>
+
+<p>“She certainly is, under the will.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well. I am engaged to be married
+to Miss Clara Eglinton, and she must
+never know that her father——”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, well,” interrupted the lawyer,
+“that’s another matter. It will be all in
+the family. I take it back, young man—you
+are not a fool.”</p>
+
+<p>And Dick quite agrees with him now.</p>
+
+<p>To-day Dick is actively engaged in the
+mining business.</p>
+
+<p>So is Charley—he is superintendent at
+the Gold Queen.</p>
+
+<p>Dick was married to Clara two years
+ago, and, of course, he’s given up monster
+hunting since he went into the mining
+business.</p>
+
+<p>As for the Smithsonian, they will have to
+get someone else to look after old P. D., if
+ever the way is open, for they cannot get
+<span class="smcap">Dick and Dr. Dan</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="center">[THE END.]</p>
+
+<hr class="tb x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="transnote">
+<h2 id="TN_end" style="margin-top: 0em">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2>
+
+<p>Illustrations have been moved to paragraph breaks near where they are
+mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>Punctuation has been made consistent.</p>
+
+<p>Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
+the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors
+have been corrected.</p>
+
+<p>The following changes were made:</p>
+
+<p id="BRef_25"><a href="#Ref_25">p. 25</a>: said added (here,” said Dick,)</p>
+
+<p id="BRef_35"><a href="#Ref_35">p. 35</a>: Charley changed to Dick (replied Dick. “Trouble)</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK AND DR. DAN ***</div>
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