Chapter XXV: Happy Valley

Leaving behind them the roaring, rumbling jet of white water that came from the unknown and went thitherward, the boy ranchers and their friends made their way back to the main tunnel.

"Well, there are two things we have to settle," declared Bud, when they had sat down on convenient rocks, near the running stream, and began to consider matters.

"What are they?" asked "Nort.

"One is, what effect has the turning of that lever we worked on the main stream? The other is, where is the lever that Del Pinzo and his gang shifted to cause this second branch stream to stop running?"

"And when we find answers to those two questions," said Dick, "I think we'll have solved the mystery."

"Right!" cried Bud. "So let's get at them. In the first place some of us will go back and shift the lever on the big rock in the first cave, while some of us stay here to see what happens."

The party was divided and when watches had been adjusted to mark the same time, so it might be known how many minutes elapsed between the shifting of the lever and any noticeable effect, Dick, Old Billee and Snake went to the first cave--that of the huge boulder.

It did not take long to demonstrate that when the water flowed from the main stream into that side branch, the stream nearer the river end of the tunnel went dry. But even with that no water passed along the main tunnel so that it would flow into the reservoir of Flume Valley.

"The water must flow out of the first big cave by some outlet we know nothing about," decided Bud. "Now we'll look for the second water gate."

They found the lever that controlled this in a corner of the upper, rocky room where Del Pinzo and his conspirators had been plotting when discovered. And when this lever was pulled from the position in which the seekers found it after the Mexican half-breed fled, the second stream (by which I mean the one nearest the river end of the tunnel) filled with water. But this did not affect the first.

And not until both levers were set at positions which caused the branch streams to empty, did any water fill the end of the tunnel near Bud's ranch.

But when this had been done; when the secret of working the levers was discovered, and water was once again flowing along the valley end of the tunnel, where the stream bed had been dry for two days, then Bud cried:

"The fight is over and we've won!"

"I wouldn't say that yet," spoke Old Billee cautiously, "Del Pinzo an' Hank Fisher are still around an' above ground. But I guess you've put a crimp in 'em, boys!"

"I reckon!" shouted Yellin' Kid. "But are we sure that the water now goes to Flume Valley?"

"We'll soon find out," declared Bud. "We're almost out of the tunnel now, and we can 'phone back and ask."

And a little later they did emerge from the mysterious underground tunnel, with its still stranger water courses. But what was their surprise to find that night had fallen--in fact it was not exactly night, but nearly morning of the next day.

For a moment coming out into the dark night bewildered them. And then, as they stood at the mouth of the mysterious tunnel under the mountain, there was a sharp crack.

"Look out!" yelled Bud, as a bullet "zinged" viciously over their heads.

In an instant Old Billee had whipped out his gun and sent a shot toward a group of horsemen along the river bank.

"There they are! Del Pinzo and his gang!" yelled Dick, as another bullet sang over his head. "Come on! Let's get 'em!"

"No use!" drawled Snake. "They've got hosses--we ain't!"

And a moment later the gang of conspirators, firing another harmless shot, swept out of view.

A group of men swarmed from the store and adjacent shacks, roused by the early-morning shooting, and with amazement they greeted our friends and heard the strange story.

"What day is it?" asked Bud.

"Friday," some one answered.

The mystery-solvers looked at one another in amazement.

They had been in the tunnel nearly forty-eight hours without sleep, nor did they feel the need of it, so exciting were the events that transpired.

But late, or, rather, early as it was, they managed to get in the store to use the telephone. And when the gray dawn was breaking across Pocut River, Bud learned, over the wire, from one of his father's cowboys left at Flume Valley, that the reservoir was again being filled.

"Hurray! It's all right!" yelled Bud, almost as loudly as the Kid would have done. "I guess, from now on, we'll have no trouble. But I'm going to see if we can't get Del Pinzo. He and his gang certainly tried to blow up the place, and us with it."

"To say nothing of trying, as I believe, to drown, us like rats in there, by shutting off and turning on those queer streams," added Nort.

"Do you think they really meant to drown us or blow us up?" asked Dick.

That question was never answered, for Del Pinzo and his more intimate associates disappeared after their flight from the tunnel, when they fled following the shifting of the lever and the lighting of the fuse.

There was dynamite tamped in among the rocks, and but for the stamping out of the fuse the tunnel never would have carried any more water to Flume Valley, and those in it might never have come out.

Hank Fisher stoutly denied that Del Pinzo was acting for him either in planting the explosives or in shutting off the water from the reservoir of the boy ranchers. But everyone had their suspicions.

For that it was Del Pinzo who had sent, or caused to be sent the mysterious warnings, no one doubted. Nor did anyone doubt but that the vicious Mexican half-breed had played tricks with the water.

For that is what they amounted to--tricks. Who built the copper-lever-controlled water gates, putting them in to utilize the winding underground streams, no one could tell. It may have been the Aztecs. The powerful, slanting stream of water, it was discovered, formed the outlet of the shunted-in-river stream when the two side channels were opened so that Flume Valley's water supply was cut off.

The water gates and the underground streams formed the chief mystery, and these never could be fully explored. It was thought too dangerous. How Del Pinzo discovered the workings of the levers, utilizing them to try to end the rule of the boy ranchers in Flume Valley, was not disclosed for many years.

"You won't have any further trouble, now that the gates are closed and the levers taken off," Mr. Merkel said, for that had been done. "You'll get all the water you want in Flume Valley."

"Guess I'll call it Happy Valley," said Bud, "for everything is coming out right, now."

"In spite of black rabbits!" chuckled Old Billee.

"Yes, even with black jacks!" laughed Bud. "Everything is working fine, now."

And so it was. For with the discovery of the secret water gates and the disappearance of Del Pinzo, the epidemic died away. Though this, of course, was due to the arrest of Pocut Pete.

That scoundrel was found guilty and sentenced to a long term in prison. But he kept his counsel, and never actually confessed that it was Hank Fisher who set him to this dastardly trick--if, indeed, it was that unscrupulous ranchman of Double Z.

That it was rustlers from Double Z who had tried to drive off some of the boy ranchers' cattle was not doubted, the finding of the branding iron being regarded as telltale evidence. But this was not enough to cause any arrests.

"Well, what are we going to do next?" asked Dick, of his brother and cousin, when they were fishing in the reservoir one evening, as, with the closing of the hidden gates and the uninterrupted flow of the water, many more finny prizes could be hooked.

"Get ready for a big shipment of cattle," said Bud. "I never saw any finer stock than we have here in Happy Valley. That's our next move--reap the benefits of our hard work."

But the lads did more than that. And those of you who wish to follow their fortunes further may do go in the next volume of this series, which will be called: "The Boy Ranchers on the Trail; or Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers."

"Who's that down at camp?" asked Dick, as he pulled up a good-sized fish and put it beside him on the grass.

"Looks like Nell and your mother," said Nort to Bud.

"It is!" Bud cried. "They said they'd come over, and Nell promised to bring a pie! Come on; we got enough fish!"

And down the reservoir rushed the boy ranchers to greet their visitors.

"Any pie, Nell?" cried Bud.

"Sure," was the answer. "But it's for company--Dick and Nort!"

"Ho! I'd like to see 'em grab it all!" challenged Bud, as he reached for the basket his sister held. "By Zip Foster I would!"

"Say, who is Zip Foster anyhow?" demanded Nort.

"Oh, I'll tell you--later!" chuckled Bud, and, as he removed the cover of the basket, delighted "Oh!" and "Ah!" exclamations came from him and his cousins at the sight within.

Some of the cowboys came riding back to camp from the round-up, Old Billee cheerfully chanting:

"Oh, bury me deep on th' lone prairie!"

And with this happy mingling of the joyful and sad we will take leave of the boy ranchers for a time.

THE END

THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES

BY WILLARD F. BAKER

_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors._

_Stories of the great west, with cattle ranches as a setting, related in such a style as to captivate the hearts of all boys._

1. THE BOY RANCHERS _or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X_

Two eastern boys visit their cousin. They become involved in an exciting mystery.

2. THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP _or The Water Fight at Diamond X_

Returning for a visit, the two eastern lads learn with delight, that they are to become boy ranchers.

3. THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL _or The Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers_

Our boy heroes take the trail after Del Pinzo and his outlaws.

4. THE BOY RANCHERS AMONG THE INDIANS _or Trailing the Yaquis_

Rosemary and Floyd are captured by the Yaqui Indians but the boy ranchers trailed them into the mountains and effected the rescue.

5. THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK _or Fighting the Sheep Herders_

Dangerous struggle against desperadoes for land rights brings out heroic adventures.

6. THE BOY RANCHERS IN THE DESERT _or Diamond X and the Lost Mine_

One night a strange old miner almost dead from hunger and hardship arrived at the bunk house. The boys cared for him and he told them of the lost desert mine.

7. THE BOY RANCHERS ON ROARING RIVER _or Diamond X and the Chinese Smugglers_

The boy ranchers help capture Delton's gang who were engaged in smuggling Chinese across the border.

CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York.

THE WEBSTER SERIES

By FRANK V. WEBSTER

Mr. Webster's style Is very much like that of the boys' favorite author, the late lamented Horatio Alger, Jr., but his tales are thoroughly up-to-date.

_Cloth. 12mo. Over 200 pages each. Illustrated. Stamped in various colors._

Only A Farm Boy _or Dan Hardy's Rise in Life_

The Boy From The Ranch _or Roy Bradner's City Experiences_

The Young Treasure Hunter _or Fred Stanley's Trip to Alaska_

The Boy Pilot of the Lakes _or Nat Morton's Perils_

Tom The Telephone Boy _or The Mystery of a Message_

Bob The Castaway _or The Wreck of the Eagle_

The Newsboy Partners _or Who Was Dick Box!_

Two Boy Gold Miners _or Lost in the Mountains_

The Young Firemen of Lakeville _or Herbert Dare's Pluck_

The Boys of Bellwood School _or Frank Jordan's Triumph_

Jack the Runaway _or On the Road with a Circus_

Bob Chester's Grit _or From Ranch to Riches_

Airship Andy _or The Luck of a Brave Boy_

High School Rivals _or Fred Markham's Struggles_

Darry The Life Saver _or The Heroes of the Coast_

Dick The Bank Boy _or A Missing Fortune_

Ben Hardy's Flying Machine _or Making a Record for Himself_

Harry Watson's High School Day _or The Rivals of Rivertown_

Comrades of the Saddle _or The Young Rough Riders of the Plains_

Tom Taylor at West Point _or The Old Army Officer's Secret_

The Boy Scouts of Lennox _or Hiking Over Big Bear Mountain_

The Boys of the Wireless _or a Stirring Rescue from the Deep_

Cowboy Dave _or The Round-up at Rolling River_

Jack of the Pony Express _or The Young Rider of the Mountain Trail_

The Boys of the Battleship _or For the Honor of Uncle Sam_

CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers. New York.

THE JEWEL SERIES

BY AMES THOMPSON

_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in colors._

_A series of stories brimming with hardy adventure, vivid and accurate in detail, and with a good foundation of probability. They take the reader realistically to the scene of action. Besides being lively and full of real situations, they are written in a straight-forward way very attractive to boy readers._

1. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE VALLEY OF DIAMONDS

Malcolm Edwards and his son Ralph are adventurers with ample means for following up their interest in jewel clues. In this book they form a party of five, including Jimmy Stone and Bret Hartson, boys of Ralph's age, and a shrewd level-headed sailor named Stanley Greene. They find a valley of diamonds in the heart of Africa.

2. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE RIVER OF EMERALDS

The five adventurers, staying at a hotel in San Francisco, find that Pedro the elevator man has an interesting story of a hidden, "river of emeralds" in Peru, to tell. With him as guide, they set out to find it, escape various traps set for them by jealous Peruvians, and are much amused by Pedro all through the experience.

3. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE LAGOON OF PEARLS

This time the group starts out on a cruise simply for pleasure, but their adventuresome spirits lead them into the thick of things on a South Sea cannibal island.

CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. New York.

THE BOMBA BOOKS

BY ROY ROCKWOOD

_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. With colored jacket._

_Bomba lived far back in the jungles of the Amazon with a half-demented naturalist who told the lad nothing of his past. The jungle boy was a lover of birds, and hunted animals with a bow and arrow and his trusty machete. He had a primitive education in some things, and his daring adventures will be followed with breathless interest by thousands._

1. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY
_or The Old Naturalist's Secret_

In the depth of the jungle Bomba lives a life replete with thrilling situations. Once he saves the lives of two American rubber hunters who ask him who he is, and how he had come into the jungle. He sets off to solve the mystery of his identity.

2. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE MOVING MOUNTAIN
_or The Mystery of the Caves of Fire_

Bomba travels through the jungle, encountering wild beasts and hostile natives. At last he trails the old man of the burning mountain to his cave and learns more concerning himself.

3. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE GIANT CATARACT
_or Chief Nascanora and His Captives_

From the Moving Mountain Bomba travels to the Giant Cataract, still searching out his parentage. Among the Pilati Indians he finds some white captives, and an aged opera singer who is the first to give Bomba real news of his forebears.

4. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON JAGUAR ISLAND
_or Adrift on the River of Mystery_

Jaguar Island was a spot as dangerous as it was mysterious and Bomba was warned to keep away. But the plucky boy sallied forth and met adventures galore.

5. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE ABANDONED CITY
_or A Treasure Ten Thousand Years Old_

Years ago this great city had sunk out of sight beneath the trees of the jungle. A wily half-breed and his tribe thought to carry away its treasure of gold and precious stones. Bomba follows.

CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Boy Ranchers in Camp, by Willard F. Baker