WARNED AWAY
Archie Lynch was leading out two fairly good-looking steeds, which did
not seem to have much speed, but for which the Racer boys were duly
grateful, for fast riding was not one of their accomplishments.
"Those are the ones you can take," said Billy, for his uncle, on
reaching the stables in advance of the lads, had given orders to the
old cattleman. "Here, Buffalo," he called, and his own steed, which
Archie had saddled and bridled, came to his young master of his own
accord.
"Trail along, boys," called Mr. Thornton, as he leaped to the back of
his horse, and galloped off. "I'll wait there for you, if I don't start
back. This may not amount to anything," he added, "but it's best to be
sure."
Billy gave his two chums some brief advice about managing their mounts,
and then the three rode off together, going much slower than Mr.
Thornton. Andy and Frank found it to be no trouble at all to control
their horses, for Max and Major were sedate old cow ponies that had
long since gotten over any such childish tricks as shying or bucking.
"Let's see if they'll get a move on when they see Buffalo leaving them
behind," suggested Billy, as they rode out of the ranch yard, and
started across the prairie.
He spoke to his steed and the horse at once leaped forward, and to the
delight of the two Racer boys, who did not care for the slow pace,
their steeds also started to gallop. It was easier riding this way.
"That's great!" complimented Billy, when he saw how well Andy and Frank
sat their saddles. "We'll make cowboys of you yet."
Once, while spending some time on a farm, the two brothers had learned
the rudiments of riding, and this now stood them in good stead. Whether
they were glad to be out in the open, away from the stable, or whether
they wanted to show that they were good for something yet, did not
develop, but certainly Max and Major kept up a fair gait, and, as Billy
reined in his steed, the three boys rode along together, making better
time than they had anticipated.
"Is it far to the dam?" asked Frank.
"About five miles," answered Billy. "We'll strike right across the
plains for it, instead of going back down the road the way the wagon
went."
As they rode on they talked of many things, and Billy told something of
the building of the dam, and the trouble his uncle had experienced from
the men who claimed to own Golden Peak, and the approach to it.
The way led through patches of purple sage, and over short buffalo
grass. Now and then they would pass herds of grazing cattle, or skirt
some great field where big crops had been raised, or would soon be
sprouting up again.
"What's that?" suddenly asked Frank, as something darted from beneath
the feet of his horse, and scurried off in the grass.
"Jack rabbit," answered Billy, with a grin. "Some day we'll come on a
hunt for 'em. It's lots of fun."
"Gosh! I thought it was something big," said Andy.
"They are pretty big--for rabbits," explained the ranch lad. "And you
ought to see 'em run!"
They could see, by the waving grass, the course taken by the animal,
and a little later they had a glimpse of him sitting on a hummock and
staring at them with his long ears held up like signal flags.
"If I had a gun," began Andy, "I'd take a----"
He did not finish the sentence, for the next moment he went flying over
the head of his horse, which went down in a heap. Andy sat down rather
suddenly, a curious expression on his face.
"Wha--what happened?" he asked in a daze, while his mount, after
scrambling to his feet, and trotting off a short distance, came to a
halt and began nibbling the grass. "Did someone hit me?"
"Your horse put his foot in the burrow of a prairie dog," explained
Billy. "Are you hurt?" and in an instant he was off his horse, slipping
the reins over Buffalo's head, as a sign that he was to stand still.
"No, only sort of shaken up," confessed Andy. "A prairie dog's burrow;
eh? What's it like?"
"Just a hole in the ground--that's all," said Billy. "I meant to tell
you about them, but you can't see 'em, anyhow, until you're right on
top of 'em, and then it's generally too late. Lucky you're not hurt.
Can you ride?"
"Sure I can, if my horse doesn't bolt," and Andy got to his feet. He
had fallen in a thick bunch of grass that acted as a mat, and, beyond a
shaking up, was not hurt.
"Oh, Max won't run," said Billy, and he proved it by walking up and
catching the steed. Soon the trio of lads were riding on again.
"Well, you didn't get the rabbit after all," remarked Frank, with a
smile at his brother.
"No, and it was his fault that I stumbled," complained the younger
Racer. "I'm going to watch for prairie dogs' holes after this."
"You won't often see 'em, unless you get on a barren place," spoke
Billy. "But let's see if we can hit up the pace any. We don't want to
be out after dark."
He spoke to Buffalo, who increased his speed, the other horses doing
the same thing. In a little while the rancher's nephew said:
"There it is!"
"What?" asked Andy.
"The dam. See those two low hills over there?" and Billy pointed to
them. "It's between those hills, and the river is right there."
"Oh, yes," answered Frank. "And what's that break in the middle of the
concrete work?"
"That's the strip of land that's in dispute. If Uncle Richfield could
build over that the dam would be done. It would only take a short time,
too, as all the material is on the ground. But the dispute will have to
be settled first."
"And where is Golden Peak?" asked Andy.
"That other hill which you see just beyond the two bigger ones,"
explained Billy. "When the dam is completed and the river backs up,
Golden Peak will be under water."
"And the treasure with it," added Frank grimly.
"Yes, if there's any treasure there," assented the ranch lad, with a
laugh.
"We'll have to see if there is any," suggested Andy.
"I don't know," and Billy shook his head. "It may be risky business,
especially if those fellows and my uncle have a clash now. But if you
fellows are game, I am."
They soon came to the river which the ranch owner proposed damming. It
was not a large stream, but once held in bounds would produce a good
supply of water for irrigation purposes. The two hills, between which
the stream flowed, formed a sort of gateway. All that was necessary
to do was to connect them with a concrete wall, and the river would
be dammed. But, as Billy pointed out, there was, right in the central
space, a strip of land of which the ranchman could not get control. And
this land formed the right of way to Golden Peak.
Golden Peak was situated in what would be about the middle of the lake
when the dam was completed and the waters backed up. And it would be
entirely submerged. But until the strip in dispute could be acquired,
and the dam completed, nothing more could be done. The work was at a
standstill.
And, as the Racer boys already knew, it was hard to get a title to
this land--that is, a title that would stand in the courts. In fact,
if Mr. Thornton lost possession of the paper which Billy had brought
from the East with him, the enemies of the rancher might even claim
another parcel of land, and might be bold enough to tear down part of
the concrete work already built.
As they came nearer to the dam the boys could see how well-made it was,
and what a big piece of engineering it was to stop the flow of even a
small river.
"Say, this is immense!" exclaimed Frank.
"I should say so," agreed Andy.
"There'll be a dandy lake here when the dam is completed, all right,"
said Billy.
"Won't it take a long time for the river to back up and fill all that
valley?" asked the elder Racer lad.
"Oh, not so very long. If we get some good heavy rain, such as we
sometimes have, or a cloudburst, it would almost fill up over night,
providing the outlet gates were all closed."
The boys went nearer the dam to inspect it. The workmen had left,
for there was nothing for them to do as long as the dam could not be
completed. The land in dispute, which led to Golden Peak, was only
about ten feet wide at the dam--a mere road, though it widened out as
it approached the third hill.
There were several sluice-ways leading from the dam, with controlling
gates, so that the water could be sent in many directions and to a
number of ranches, as well as to almost every part of Mr. Thornton's
land.
While the boys were looking at the irrigation works, they heard someone
approaching from the inner side of the dam, and presently a voice
hailed them.
"Oh, it's Uncle Richfield," said Billy, as he saw his relative
approaching on his horse. "Did you see anything of them?" he asked.
"Not a sign, though someone has been here lately in a wagon with thin
tires, and that isn't the kind the construction men used. I shouldn't
wonder but what those fellows you saw have been here."
"But where did they go?" asked Billy.
"I don't know. They must have moved off back there, though it's hard
going for a wagon," and he waved his hand toward the region where the
river had its rise, a stretch of scrub trees and low foothills.
"Did they do anything?" Frank wanted to know.
"No, nothing seems to have been disturbed. I guess it was a false
alarm. We'll get back home. It looks as if it might rain. I suppose I
ought to have a watchman here, but nothing short of dynamite could harm
the dam now, and I don't believe they'd venture on that," concluded the
ranchman.
He showed his nephew and the Racer boys how he proposed to use the
water when it was imprisoned by the dam, and after a tour of the place,
and a look at Golden Peak from a distance, the party started back.
"We'll have to go at that hill soon," said Andy, in a low voice to his
brother, as they rode back across the prairie.
"That's what," agreed Frank.
But for two weeks after that they were so occupied with having a
good time that they hardly thought of their plan to see of what the
"treasure" might consist.
Their chief business was in learning to ride as Billy did--making
himself almost a part of his horse. This took time, but the Racer boys
were apt pupils. Then came lessons in throwing the lasso, and, though
it took longer to acquire this knack, they managed to become fairly
adept at it.
They went on hunting trips, helped round up the cattle, watched the men
at their crop work, and took long rides across the big stretches of
prairie that always seemed to have something new to disclose.
"Oh, it's a great country!" exclaimed Frank, as they came back one
evening from a long gallop--on faster steeds than Max and Major.
"It sure is," agreed his brother.
"What do you say to a try for Golden Peak to-morrow?" suggested Billy.
"There's nothing special to do, and if it's good weather we can take
our dinner and stay there all day."
"Just the cheese!" declared Frank, and Andy nodded enthusiastically.
The day proved all that could be desired, and early in the morning
saw the three chums galloping across the prairie, headed for the big
unfinished dam, and the hill known as Golden Peak.
The ride was without incident, save that they startled any number
of jack rabbits, which they did not fire at, as the flesh was not
considered prime at that time of year.
As they approached the dam, Frank, who was slightly in the lead, called
out:
"Is your uncle over here, Billy?"
"Why, no, I don't think so. He didn't say anything about coming. In
fact I know he isn't, for I remember, now, he went into town. But why
do you ask?"
"Because there is someone moving around the dam," went on Frank. "I
can see one, two, why there's half a dozen men there, Billy!"
"There are?" and the ranch lad galloped up beside his chum. Quickly
taking a pair of field glasses from the case at his side, he focused
them on the concrete wall.
"That's right," he said, in a low voice. "I wonder what this means? I
don't like it, I wish Uncle Richfield was here."
He called to his horse, and increased the animal's speed, and Frank and
Andy did likewise. A few minutes later, as the boys galloped across the
stretch of land that was in dispute, a man suddenly arose from where he
had been sitting on a stone in the deep grass.
"Hold on there!" he exclaimed, and he reached for his gun, which was
standing near him. "I wouldn't come any farther if I were you. It might
not be just altogether healthy."
"Why--why, what do you mean?" asked Billy, "This is my uncle's land!"
"Oh, is it? Well, I guess not--not here, anyhow!" the fellow jeered.
"Now you clear out if you don't want to get hurt!" and he started
menacingly toward the lads.