Boy Ranchers in Camp; Or, The Water Fight at Diamond X Read online

  Produced by Al Haines

  Cover art]

  [Frontispiece: "LOOK OUT!" QUICKLY YELLED NORT. "JUMP FOR YOUR LIVES!IT'S A FLOOD!" "The Boy Ranchers in Camp."]

  THE

  BOY RANCHERS

  IN CAMP

  OR

  _The Water Fight at Diamond X_

  By

  WILLARD F. BAKER

  Author of "The Boy Ranchers," "The Boy Ranchers on the Trail," etc.

  _ILLUSTRATED_

  NEW YORK

  CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY

  THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES

  By WILLARD F. BAKER

  12mo. Cloth. Frontispiece

  THE BOY RANCHERS or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X

  THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP or The Water Fight at Diamond X

  THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL or The Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers

  CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York

  COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY

  CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY

  THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP

  Printed in U. S. A.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER

  I A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE II A NIGHT RIDE III THE WARNING IV A STRANGE REAPPEARANCE V ANOTHER WARNING VI TROUBLE AT SQUARE M VII DOUBLING UP VIII DRY AGAIN IX A SHOT IN THE NIGHT X INTO THE TUNNEL XI THE RUSH OF WATERS XII THE RISING FLOOD XIII WHERE DID IT GO? XIV A NIGHT ATTACK XV THE BRANDING IRON XVI QUEER ACTIONS XVII "GERMS!" XVIII ROPED! XIX AN EXPEDITION IN THE DARK XX INTO THE DEPTHS XXI THE FIGURE ON THE ROCK XXII THE WATER GATE XXIII THE CONSPIRATORS XXIV A POWERFUL STREAM XXV HAPPY VALLEY

  THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP

  CHAPTER I

  A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE

  "Look out there, Bud! Look out! There you go!"

  "Side-stepping soap dishes! What's the idea? Whoa, there, Sock!"

  The pinto pony reared, swerved sharply to one side as a black streakshot across the trail almost under his feet and then, when the animalcame to a sudden stop, there shot over his head the boy who had givenvent to the last exclamation.

  Bud Merkel came down sprawling on all fours in a bunch of grass whichserved, in a great measure, to break the force of the catapult over hispony's head. And then, as the lad righted himself and limped over tocatch his steed, he cried:

  "What in the name of the petrified prune pie was that, Billee?"

  "A jack, Bud! A jack rabbit, and as black as gunpowder! Yo' shore arein for some bad luck, now!"

  "Bad luck! I should say so! Almost breaking my neck, and lamingSock," and the lad looked anxiously at his pinto, being relieved tofind, however, that the animal had suffered no harm.

  "But this won't be all!" declared Billee Dobb. "I never see a blackjack shoot in front of a man yet that bad luck didn't follow!"

  "Well, let's make it go some to catch us!" suggested Bud as he leapedto the saddle, after making sure that the girths were tight. "Blackjack! First one I ever saw," and he looked off in the distance towarda streak of dust, which was all that now represented the frightenedrabbit that had shot across the trail so unexpectedly.

  "They aren't plentiful; thank your stars!" exclaimed the old cowboy."I'm glad it didn't happen to _me_."

  "Yes, if you'd a' toppled over your critter's head there'd be a biggercrack in the ground!" laughed Bud, as he looked at his companion'sgreater girth and weight. "It came as sudden as a flash of lightning,that jack!"

  "Bad luck allers does come that-a-way," croaked Old Billee Dobb.

  "Oh, you and your bad luck!" laughed Bud. "Come on now, hump yourself!Hump yourself, you old soap-footing specimen of a slab of saltpeter!"he cried to his pony. "Mosey along!"

  "What's your rush, Bud? Anybody's take a notion t' think you was insuthin' of a hurry, t' hear you talkin' that-a-way t' your critter,"remarked Billee as he ambled along behind his more impetuous companion.

  "Hurry, Billee? Of course I'm in a hurry!" admitted Bud, a tall,well-tanned lad as he adjusted himself to his saddle, and dashed aheadof his companion on the dusty trail. "I reckon you'd be in a rush,too, if your cousins that you hadn't seen since last fall were comingto camp all summer with you!" and Bud Merkel swung around in hiscreaking saddle to note the pace of his companion.

  "Them two tenderfeet comin' out to Diamond X ag'in?" asked Old BilleeDobb.

  "Course they are!" answered Bud. "But they're a long shot from beingtenderfeet, now, since they helped get rid of Del Pinzo and hiscattle-rustling gang, and did their share in solving the mystery of theTriceratops. Tenderfeet! Guess you'd better not let 'em _hear_ youcall 'em that!"

  "Mebby not, son! Mebby not!" agreed Old Billee, rather mildly as hetried to urge his slower-going animal to keep pace with Bud's. For thepinto, responding to the spur of voice and heel, had shot ahead. "Isorter forgot your cousins did have a hand in the lively doin's atDiamond X last season. So they're coming out again, be they?"

  "Yes, and we're going to make a camp of it, over in Flume Valley. I'mgoing to raise there the finest bunch of steers you ever hazed to thestock yards, and Nort and Dick are going to help me. I'm riding tomeet them now at the water-hole, and we're going back to stay allsummer in Flume Valley."

  "Hum! Flume Valley!" mused the older cowboy, for both riders were ofthat class, though Bud Merkel was the son of the man who owned DiamondX, and other important western ranches. "Flume Valley! That's whereyour paw started that irrigation scheme; ain't it?"

  "Yes," replied Bud. "It was only a waste bit of land before dad ranthe water through the tunnel-flume from Pocut River, but now it growsthe best grass you ever rolled your bed in. And the steers--you oughtto see 'em, Billee!"

  "Well, I'm aimin' to, right soon," responded the old man. "Your pawwas sayin' suthin' about putting me over there, but I didn't pay muchattention to it. So you and the eastern lads are going to camp inFlume Valley, be you?"

  "Yes, because, being an experiment, dad didn't want to build any ranchhouses there yet. But if we make good on the deal, and can raisesteers on the grass that's grown since the water was let in, why, I'mto have it for my own ranch, when I come of age, and Dick and Nort willbe my partners. We'll call it Diamond X Second."

  "Good name! Mighty good name! Look out there, you old piece of baconfat!" he called sharply to his animal, pulling the pony quickly up asit stumbled. "There aren't any prairie dog holes here for you t' goputtin' your foot in! What's the matter of yo'?"

  But though Old Billee and Bud spoke thus in seeming harshness to theirhorses, there was no unkindness in their treatment of the animals. Itwas just their picturesque, western manner of talking, and hardly hadthe echo of Old Billee's words died away on the hot, dusty air than hewas gently patting the neck of the pony he rode.

  "Did dad say you were to help me over in Flume Valley?" asked Bud, ashe slowed down the pace of his animal to keep alongside that of theolder cowboy.

  "Yes, he said I was to be your helper. And first I sorter hated toleave Babe, Slim, Snake and the rest of the bunch. But if you say yourcousins are coming out, and if we can raise better cattle there than onthe home ranch, why, mebby it won't be so worse."

  "Of course it won't!" cried Bud. "Why, even in the short time thesteers have been in Flume Valley, Billee, they've improved."

  "You say there's stock there now?" asked the old man, for he wasgray-haired, "Well, if they've been thrivin' by themselves so far,what's the good of you an' your cousins campin' there to watch 'em eat?"

  "Lots of reasons," answered Bud, as he and his companion started up ahill, on the other side of which they would reach the wate
r-hole, wherethe main trail from Diamond X came in. "For one thing this issomething new, and dad wants it watched carefully. Then, too, thewater pipe and reservoir will need looking after. But, more thananything else, it's Del Pinzo and his gang of rustlers."

  "Those scoundrels didn't get what they deserved for tryin' to run offour stock last year!" complained Billee. "Now they're raisin' ructionsagain; be they?"

  "They sure are!" declared Bud. "It wasn't that they didn't get whatthey deserved, for they were sentenced to long terms. But the troublewas they didn't stay in jail where they were put."

  "I reckon they look at it just the other way!" chuckled Billee.

  "Yes," agreed Bud. "But it's going to make trouble for dad and all theother cattle raisers around here having that bunch of Mexicans andGreasers loose. That's one reason why we've got to watch out at FlumeValley, where we're going to try to raise some cattle that will beatthose at Diamond X. I'm glad you're going to be with me, Billee."

  "Hum! You don't care what sort of trouble th' old man gits into; doyou, Bud?" and he smiled a toothless smile at his employer's son."Well, it's all in th' day's work, I reckon. But I'm not expected t'come with you to-night; am I? Slim said I was to report t' him at themain buildin's."

  "No, you don't have to come right away," replied Bud. "I'm to meetDick and Nort at the water-hole--they were due at our ranch thismorning--and you're to come when you can."

  "Might as well be quick as sooner," laughed the old cowboy. "I don'ttake much to new-fangled notions. But orders is orders, I reckon."

  "Oh, there isn't so much new at Flume Valley," said Bud. "All it everneeded to make one of the best places in this part of the country forraising cattle was water. Now, since dad had the big pipe flume put infrom Pocut River, where it can fill the reservoir and water the grassand the cattle at the same time, things are going to boom!"

  "They are to hear you tell 'em!" chuckled Billee. "Well, I wish youall good luck, Bud, I'll help all I can. I'll be over to-night, if Ican make it, though it's some of a ride after a day's work."

  "Oh, I won't expect you," said Bud. "I've got everything all laid outfor the camp there. Nort and Dick will be with me, but we'll be on thelookout for you to-morrow. Bring what things you need, and some grub.And if my mother has any pies baked, just pack a few of them."

  "Only a _few_?" asked Billee, with a grin.

  "As many as Nell will let you take," laughed Bud. "But there's Nortand Dick! Whoop! Oh, boy! Come a-runnin'!" and the young rancherbeat a tattoo with his heels on the sides of his steed, and raced downthe slope toward two other lads who, like himself, were attired inconventional western costume. Old Billee pulled his steed to a haltand watched the greetings.

  "It's a great thing to be young!" sighed the old man. "The greatestthing in the world! But maybe I can do something yet! Only I don'tlike that black jack--I shore don't! Never heard of anythin' but badluck followin' one of them nimble cusses! I don't like it for a cent!"

  "Well, here we are!" cried Nort Shannon, flinging his broad-brimmed hatinto the air, and catching it on the end of his .45 before theheadpiece could touch the ground.

  "Came right on time, too! Zip Foster couldn't 'a' made it better!"joyously declared Bud, clapping his palm into that of Nort.

  "Haven't you run him off the ranch yet?" asked the other lad, who wasrather short and stout, not to say fat.

  "Run who off?" asked Bud.

  "Zip Foster!" repeated Dick. "Last I heard of him----"

  "Never mind _him_!" and Bud seemed somewhat annoyed at having mentionedthe name. "Oh, but I'm glad you fellows are here! Have a good trip?Are you hungry? Did you have grub enough? Can you ride right out now?How's everybody at my house?"

  Nort looked at his western cousin, and then, with a deliberate motionpretended to mop his face free of some imaginary perspiration, broughtout by the rapid-fire questions on his cousin's part.

  "Say! Go a bit easy, will you, Bud?" he begged. "One at a time! Lineforms on this side!"

  "We're going right out with you, and everybody's fine!" answered Dick,summing up matters. "Your father said we were to ride out and meet youhere at the water-hole. We've got as much of our outfits as we'll needfor a few days, and so let's mosey along. Oh, but it's great to beback out west!"'

  "You got off a ripe one that time!" agreed Nort. "Who's that upthere?" he asked, pointing to the figure of a solitary horseman on thehill down which Bud had ridden.

  "Looks like Yellin' Kid," commented Dick.

  "It's Old Billee," answered Bud. "He's going to be with us out atFlume Valley. Did dad tell you of the new venture?" he asked hiscousins.

  "Yes, and it sounds good. Must have been quite a trick to bring waterfrom Pocut River, Bud."

  "Well, it would have been if Professor Wright hadn't showed dad how touse an old underground water course for part of the way. Then it waseasy. And say--you ought to see what a difference water has made inthat valley! It was almost a desert before we irrigated."

  "I'm anxious to see it!" said Nort.

  "We can't get there any too soon to suit me," added Dick. "Just think!We're going to be our own bosses--boy ranchers for fair!"

  "You intimated plenty that time!" cried Bud. "Well, let's hit thetrail!"

  The three boy ranchers started off, Nort and Dick accompanying Bud backover the way the latter had come. As they rode up the hill Old Billeepassed on down another trail, leading to Diamond X proper.

  "Howdy, boys!" called the old cowboy from the distance to Nort andDick. "See you a bit later over at your own ranch!" he added, andthen, with a friendly wave of his hand, he went down into a littleswale, or valley, and was lost to sight.

  "Now for some good times!" cried Bud, as he rode between his twoeastern cousins, who had again come to spend the summer with him in thegreat western outdoors.

  "If it's anything like last year we sure will have a bang-up vacation!"declared Nort.

  "Well, I can't promise anything like that--with cattle rustling anddigging up animals ten million years old," laughed Bud. "But I thinkwe might have a little excitement."

  "How?" asked Nort and Dick eagerly.

  "Tell you later," promised Bud.

  They rode on, talking over old times and planning new ones, and as theshadows began to lengthen they rode down into a triangular valley, atone end of which a rude dam could be noticed, while, scattered over thegreen carpeted floor, were hundreds of grazing cattle.

  "Say, this is some slick place!" cried Dick.

  "The best ever!" affirmed Nort. "And is this where we are to camp andranch it?"

  "Right here," declared Bud. "Course we haven't any ranch house yet.But we've got a tent--there it is," and he pointed to a white canvasshelter not far from the dam.

  "A tent! Oh, boy! better and better!" yelled Dick, as he urged hispony forward.

  As the three boy ranchers neared their headquarters, represented by twoor three tents grouped together, there emerged from among them thefigure of a man on horseback.

  "There's old Buck Tooth," said Bud.

  "Who?" asked the eastern cousins.

  "Buck Tooth--a Zuni Indian that dad picked up somewhere. He's one ofthe best herd-riders you'd want, and he and I are great friends.Wonder what's the matter, though? He acts as though something hadhappened."

  Bud pulled rein, to allow a better observation of the figure that was,obviously, riding out to meet him. Nort and Dick also halted theirponies. But Buck Tooth rode to meet them at great speed, sitting inthe saddle as though part of it and the horse. He rode in a mannerthat made Nort and Dick envy him.

  "What's the matter, Buck?" asked Bud, as soon as the Indian was withinhailing distance. And then Nort and Dick could see why he was calledthat. A large, yellow-stained tooth protruded from his mouth, givinghim not exactly a pleasant expression.

  "What's wrong, Buck, you ride so _pronto_ like?" demanded the youngwestern ranch boy.

  "Heap wrong!" came the answer in gut
tural tones. "You no shut offwater in pipe; eh?"

  "Shut off the irrigation water? I should say not!" cried Bud. "Why,has anyone?"

  "Water no come! All gone! No run splash-splash now!" and Buck Toothwaved his hand toward the reservoir made by a dam that curved out in ahalf circle from the wall of natural rock.

  "The water gone!" cried Bud. "This is strange! Let's have a look!"

  He and his cousins rode at top speed to the reservoir that hadreclaimed Flume Valley from the semi-desert it had long been.Dismounting, they climbed the slope and saw that from the great ironpipe, which was wont to spout a sparkling stream, there came only a fewdrops and trickles.

  "It's disappeared!" said Bud in a low voice. "The water has takenanother course! This means the end of Flume Valley, I reckon!"