The Boy Ranchers in Death Valley: or, Diamond X and the Poison Mystery

CHAPTER VI

AT DOT AND DASH

Silently the little circle of ranchers, young and old, gazed at theominous warning Nort had picked up. Yellin' Kid was the first tospeak, following the reading of the message on the dirty piece of bagpaper.

"Well, I'll be horn-swoggled!" voiced the Kid in his usual loud tones.

Billee Dobb looked sharply from Nort to Dick and then at Bud.

"This any of your doin's?" he asked.

"Our doings! What do you mean?" challenged Bud.

"I mean you aren't getting up some stunts for the rodeo – oh, Iforgot – that's off," the veteran puncher hastened to add. "But none ofyou youngsters did this, I hope."

"Dropped that warning?" questioned Dick. "I should say not! I didn'tdo it!"

"Nor I!" voiced Nort. "I picked it up, and I can see, Billee, youmight naturally be suspicious of me as one who knew just where tolocate this piece of paper. But I had nothing to do with it."

"Nor I!" said Bud. "'Tisn't my idea of the right kind of a joke toplay."

"You never can tell what young fellows will do," murmured Old Billee.

"But I'm glad to hear you three say you had nothing to do with it.

Sort of relieves me."

"'Tisn't my kind of writing," went on Dick as though he thought, because he had given the first alarm and had been, in fact, the onlyone to view the midnight intruder, that more suspicion might attach tohim as the joker than to any one else.

"I'm not much on writin' myself," declared Yellin' Kid, "and while Imight say I'd be proud if I could sling a pen the way this feller did,I want it distinctly understood I didn't have nothin' to do with it."

"You needn't tell the folks in the next county about it," gently chidedBillee. Then he took the paper from Snake Purdee, who was curiouslyexamining it, and subjected it to a close scrutiny.

"Make anything of it, Billee?" asked Yellin' Kid endeavoring to put thesoft pedal on his voice.

"The writin' ain't that of anybody I know," said the veteran, "and Ican't, offhand, recall anybody whose initials are S.T. But TimMellick, who keeps the store over at Palmo, has paper bags of the samekind of stuff as this."

"I don't believe that will be much of a clew," said Dick. "Most paperbags are alike, and store keepers get their supply of them from awholesale house that supplies a hundred customers."

"No, I don't reckon we can do much toward pickin' up the trail of thisfellow from that scrap," admitted Billee. "So the next best thing todo is to get breakfust."

"That's right – let's eat!" exclaimed Snake.

"But you aren't going to throw that away; are you?" asked Dick as hesaw Billee folding the ragged piece of brown paper containing thesinister warning.

"Throw it away? Oh, no! Of course I'm not. I'm going to keep ituntil I can find out what it means."

"What it means is plain enough," said Bud. "Somebody doesn't want usto go on to Death Valley and Dot and Dash ranch."

"All the more reason why we should go on there and see what it means!"cried Nort.

"That's the talk!" echoed his brother and cousin.

"If they're trying to scare us away, they'll find we don't scare wortha cent," added Bud.

"It goes to prove, though," remarked Dick, "that Billee's story islikely to be borne out. I mean that there's something queer going onat Death Valley."

"Queer is right!" assented Bud. "Though whether this is a warning inour interests, sent by one who doesn't want to see any of us get putout of business with the poisoned water, or whether it's a warning tokeep away so we won't discover some crooked business – that's somethingwe can't answer."

"Not yet," said Billee Dobb significantly. "But we'll soon be able to.I've got my mind made up, now. I'm going to see this thing through tothe finish!" and he smote his right fist into his open left hand with asound like the report of a small gun.

"That's the way to talk!" cried Yellin' Kid. "I wish I'd had a sightof the fellow who dropped that warning," he went on. "He would besitting down here now talking Turkey and tellin' what it was all about.Why didn't you call me first, Dick?"

"I raised the alarm as soon as I could wake myself up," was the answer.

"But I guess we were all sleeping pretty sound."

While Snake was frying the bacon and making the coffee, some of theothers cast about the camp in a circle, seeking some clew to themidnight visitor. But nothing could be found that shed any light onthe mystery. It was evident that the man, whoever he was, had riddento the camp, had picketed his horse out some distance and then hadsneaked in among the prostrate, sleeping figures. Evidently his objectwas merely to leave the warning, and not to rob or commit some moreserious crime. And his touching the foot of Dick was an accident.Then, seeing he had caused an alarm, the man slipped away, dropping hisnote.

Puzzle their heads as they did, none of the six could recall any one, either among their friends or enemies, whose initials were S.T. andDick's suggestion, that the symbols of a name were only assumed, seemedto be generally accepted.

Breakfast was eaten, camp was broken and once more, after anothercasual casting about for possible clews to the intruder, the cavalcadewas under way. But one more night separated them from the vicinity ofDeath Valley and the new ranch.

"And the sooner we can get there and begin checking up on some of thethings we've heard the better I'll like it," remarked Bud.

"I guess we all will," echoed Nort.

"I only hope we'll find something tangible, and not a lot moremysteries," spoke Dick.

"It'll probably turn out to be poisoned springs or bad water,"suggested Yellin' Kid. "That's the most reasonable explanation."

"Um!" was all Billee Dobb would reply to that.

They made rather good time that day, as the trail was now downward forthey had passed the range of low hills outside of the valley. And whennight came, and they were once more camped out, they knew that thefollowing day would see them at Dot and Dash ranch.

"What about standing guard to-night?" asked Bud of his cousins whencamp was established and a good supper had been eaten.

"'Twon't do any harm to have sentry-go," agreed Dick.

"But the chances are a hundred to one against anything happening todisturb us," said Nort. "That fellow isn't likely to come back."

"I agree with you," said Bud. "But, all the same, I think we'll allsleep sounder if we stand watch and watch."

"It'll be our turn," declared Snake. "We three old gazaboes will taketurns. You kids had last night. This is ours."

It was no more than fair and the boy ranchers were glad enough to letthe men act as sentries. So Billee, Snake and Yellin' Kid arranged itamong themselves, leaving the night to uninterrupted slumber for thethree boys.

"That is, we'll sleep if nothing wakes us," said Bud.