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<title>
Dick and Dr. Dan, by C. Little—A Project Gutenberg eBook
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<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 68698 ***</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. & 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 & 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. & 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>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 68698 ***</div>
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