THE END OF DEATH VALLEY
Hurrying along, some of the men in their saddles, others stumbling on
foot, not having taken the time to mount, the whole party rushed out of
the defile. It was not until they had reached open country, some
distance removed from the entrance to Smugglers' Glen, that the older
scientist thought it safe to call a halt. And he did not do this until
he had looked around, with his assistant, to make sure there were no
earth fissures near, and had also ascertained the direction of the
wind. He tested the air by breathing deeply of it and said:
"We're safe for a time. But there's no telling how long. This is a
most remarkable natural phenomenon--one of the most remarkable I have
ever happened upon."
"Very remarkable," agreed Professor Snath.
"But what's it all about?" asked Bud. "We've seen those earth cracks
before."
"And near the place where there were dead cattle," added Nort.
"We heard running water down below, too," was Dick's contribution to
the general information.
"Those cracks go down to the bed of an underground stream," explained
Professor Dodson. "The subterranean river, brook or whatever it is,
must flow a long distance under this ranch," and he looked over the
expanse of valley, hill and plain. "Now an ordinary underground stream
is not dangerous. In fact where it comes to the surface, as many do,
it provides valuable water. But the stream below here is impregnated
with a deadly gas." He gave it a long Latin name. "At least if it is
not always deadly," he went on, "and it may not be so at all times,
owing to dilution, it is risky to breathe it. I think that is the
explanation of the deaths of your cattle," he said to Bud. "And you
men who were rendered unconscious," he indicated Sam and his guards,
"you must have breathed a modified form of the gas."
"But those fellows had gas in tanks!" cried Nort.
"No question about that!" added Billee. "Did they bottle up this stuff
you gave such a long name to, Professor, and shoot it out at us?"
"No," was the answer. "I am inclined to think these unknown men used a
very different kind of gas against you--probably a comparatively
harmless vapor discovered during the war activities. I think there are
two puzzles here and that they are both in the way, now, of being
solved."
"It looks so," murmured Bud. "But how is the poison gas generated and
how does it come up out of cracks in the earth to kill cattle and knock
out our men?"
"The explanation is probably very simple," said the scientist. "There
must be, somewhere near the head of the defile we just left, a deposit
of the mineral or ore from which this gas I speak of is generated. It
is somewhat like carbon monoxide, but more powerful even in the open
air."
"Water, flowing over a bed of this mineral, liberates the gas in the
form of an almost invisible vapor. It is swept forward in a cloud by
the wind, some of it is carried along above the course of the
underground stream, and as soon as it reaches an opening in the earth,
like a fissure crack in the rock or ground, the gas rises and whoever
breathes it dies or is rendered unconscious for a time, according to
the strength of the vapor. At one time the underground stream may be
strongly impregnated with the dissolved chemicals that generate the
gas. At another time the emanations may be comparatively weak. That,
I think, is the explanation of happenings here in Death Valley, as you
call it."
"Then the men who thought they had a gold mine in the cave had nothing
to do with killing the cattle?" asked Nort.
"I can't say for sure, but I think not," the professor replied. "I am
inclined to believe that they got these tanks of gas to use in driving
away any who might try to get at their secret--a useless secret as it
proves now. But the accidental deaths, both of cattle and men, from
the underground gas must have been going on here a long time," the
scientist suggested.
"They have!" declared Old Billee. "Several years back. That's why I
quit here. But we didn't know what the cause was. Some said poisoned
water, others poison loco-weed. Some said it was the souls of Indians
who were driven out of this valley years ago."
"And all the while it was just a natural gas liberated by an
underground stream running over a bed of chemicals," stated Bud.
"That's what I think," said Professor Dodson. "It remains to be proved
conclusively, but that is what I think will be found."
"Then this means the end of Death Valley," went on Bud, gloomily. "We
can't afford to stay here and raise cattle to be killed off by gas."
"No," agreed Professor Dodson. "But do not form a hasty decision.
Science can do much these days. It may be possible to neutralize this
gas and so make your ranch safe. In that case it will be the end of
Death Valley but in a better way. It will be Life Valley then."
"Do you think it can be done?" eagerly Bud asked.
"I don't know. But it's worth trying. You say you have gas masks?
They will be needed I think."
"Plenty of 'em!" cried Bud. "Come on back to the ranch where we still
have them. We may win yet!" he said to his cousins. "If the gold mine
peters out, as it has done, we'll get rich raising cattle in one of the
best valleys of the west--providing the poison gas can be done away
with."
"There's always an _if_ in the road," murmured Nort.
But when, a little later, the scientists, the boy ranchers and some of
the men, wearing gas masks, penetrated to the far end of the defile,
they found conditions which were distinctly encouraging. Professor
Dodson located the mass of mineral which, when wet, gave off the vapor
that caused death or disablement according to its strength.
"All that needs to be done," he said, indicating the stream which ran
for some distance in the open before plunging underground, "is to build
a small dam, change the course of this little river and send it down
_outside_ the defile, instead of _through_ it. Keep this stream
entirely in the open and you will do away with the poison gas. It is
really a not very difficult problem in engineering and irrigation. It
will not cost much to do this."
"Then it's going to be done, and it means the end of Death Valley
forever!" cried Bud. "I mean a happy ending," he added. "For we'll do
away with all danger."
"Thanks to you gentlemen and to Old Tosh," said Nort. "For he helped,
didn't he?"
"Indeed he did," agreed Professor Snath.
"And when the course of the stream is changed," went on his chief,
"there is no reason why the old herb doctor cannot resume work in his
cave if he wants to. It will be safe then."
"Guess he'll be glad to hear that!" chuckled Nort. "He's been like a
lost dog these last few weeks. Then those fellows, with their gas
tanks, didn't have anything to do with killing our cattle?" he
suggested.
"Not a thing," declared Professor Dodson. "It was a war against nature
you were fighting."
"We've only just begun to fight her!" cried Bud.
Mr. Merkel was not much disappointed when he learned that the cave mine
had petered out.
"I never took much stock in it," he told his son over the telephone.
"But I'm glad you've solved the mystery of Death Valley. I'll send
some engineers over, we'll change the course of that stream and go in
for cattle raising. That's our business, anyhow, not mining."
In a few weeks the dam was constructed, the stream, where it ran in the
open, was shifted several hundred feet and there was no longer any
danger of it dissolving the chemicals and carrying the deadly gas
underground, to send it up out of fissures to the detriment of man and
beast. While the work was going on, all cattle were removed from the
vicinity of the defile, which was found to be the only danger spot on
Dot and Dash.
The boys recalled the time when, in riding over the range, their horses
had taken such a sudden fright. They could not determine whether at
that time some poison gas might have seeped out, alarming the sensitive
beasts, or whether it was something like a snake which might have
startled the ponies. It was one of the things that remained unsolved,
but it was a minor phase of the main problem which had been brought to
a successful conclusion.
And so, in this comparatively simple manner, was the mystery solved and
an end put to Death Valley, though it retained that name for many years.
Some time after all danger was removed, when cattle roamed freely over
the range, as near the defile as they cared to go, and when Old Tosh
was again allowed to brew his Elixer in the cave, a man was arrested in
Los Pompan for horse stealing. He was convicted and it developed he
was one of the men who had used the poison gas tanks against the boy
ranchers. He was one of a gang.
They had nothing to do with and knew nothing of the emanations of
natural gas in Death Valley. They had heard the sinister reputation of
the place, but that did not keep them out, and they discovered the cave
and at once jumped to the conclusion that it contained gold. They
frightened away Old Tosh and when Bud stumbled on their operations they
adopted the sinister form of defense they used later. One of the men
in the gang had served in the chemical warfare division of the A.E.F.
overseas. He was an expert chemist and developed a gas that would
knock a man out but not kill him. Thus Bud was made a prisoner,
escaping when the men left him for a time.
The gang had taken considerable of the yellow ore out of the cave, and,
doubtless after the battle in which they were worsted, they discovered
it to be valueless. So they had no reason to return to the territory.
The gang dispersed. None of them, it appeared, had ever suffered from
the effects of the natural gas.
Soon after the course of the stream was changed, Dot and Dash ranch was
a busy place. Several new herds were bought and pastured and more men
were hired. There was no trouble, now, in getting men from near by,
for the story of the passing of the menacing gas was told all over.
Old Tosh was kept busy making his Elixer, for though the men knew it
was comparatively useless as a medicine, some of them thought it did
them good, and they rather liked the root beer taste it had.
"Why don't you put your full name on your labels?" asked Nort of the
queer old codger one day, when the boys were visiting him in his, or,
rather, their cave, which he had fitted up to live in while he did his
brewing. "You just call it 'Tosh Elixer.'"
"That's enough for a name," he chuckled. "But my first name, if you
want to know it is Simon. I don't fancy it so I seldom use it."
"Simon Tosh!" murmured Bud. "S.T. Why," he cried, "those were the
initials signed to that warning we received while we were on our way
here. Did you come to our camp and leave that note?"
"Yes, I did," was the answer. "I heard a new crowd was coming to Death
Valley and I thought I'd save their lives if I could warn them not to
come. I knew there was something with a queer smell, coming out of the
earth, that killed men, horses and cattle. But I couldn't find out
what it was. But I knew enough to get out of my cave and the glen when
I caught the first whiff of the queer perfume. It didn't get me."
"No, but it did for enough poor fellows, and for too many of our stock
before we found out what it was," said Nort.
"I never could understand, though," said Mr. Tosh, after he had
identified the two warning notes which Bud produced from his wallet, "I
never could understand why the gas came at some times and not at
others. You never knew when to look for it."
"Professor Dodson explained that," stated Bud. "It was due to the
height of the underground stream, and also the stream in the open. At
low water there wasn't enough fluid to cover the bed of chemicals, and
so no gas was generated. When the water rose, the gas was given off."
"Science is wonderful," murmured the old man.
The boys left him brewing his kettle of herbs. He insisted on giving
them a bottle of the Elixer though he knew they would not swallow any
of it.
"Give it to Fah Moo," suggested Mr. Tosh. "But tell him not to drink
it all at once."
"We will," promised Dick with a chuckle.
The boys rode home over the rolling plains, dotted with cattle. No
longer need they look for lifeless forms. Death Valley, as such, was
no longer in existence.
"And we'll make almost as much money out of stock raising as if we had
a gold mine," said Nort.
"Surest thing you know!" agreed Bad.
They put their horses in the corral and went in to supper.
"Smells good--whatever Fah Moo is cooking!" commented Dick. "What is
it, Fah?" he asked as the Chinese cook came shuffling in.
"Melican man tulky," was the smiling answer.
"American turkey, what does he mean?" asked Nort.
"Roast pork and apple sauce," chuckled Bud, and he was right.
"Here, Fah," said Dick, handing the cook the bottle of Elixer. "Tosh
sent this to you."
The celestial gave one look at the flask, raised his hands to cover his
mouth and ran from the room, squeaking in his falsetto voice:
"No can do! No can do!"
"He'll never open another bottle here as long as he lives!" chuckled
Bud.
And then, as the sun began to sink behind the western hills and from
the various stations on the ranch the cowboys filed in to supper, the
boys gathered at the table for the bountiful meal and were very happy.
They had solved the poison mystery and made Death Valley a place of
life.
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.
8. THE BOY RANCHERS IN DEATH VALLEY
_or Diamond X and the Poison Mystery_. The Boy Ranchers track
Mysterious Death into his cave.
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_
2. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE MOVING MOUNTAIN
_or The Mystery of the Caves of Fire_
3. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE GIANT CATARACT
_or Chief Nasconora and His Captives_
4. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON JAGUAR ISLAND
_or Adrift on the River of Mystery_
5. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE ABANDONED CITY
_or A Treasure Ten Thousand Years Old_
6. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON TERROR TRAIL
_or The Mysterious Men from the Sky_
7. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE SWAMP OF DEATH
_or The Sacred Alligators of Abarago_
8. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AMONG THE SLAVES
_or Daring Adventures in the Valley of Skulls_
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers, New York