THE SECRET OF THE SPRING
"More cattle taken?" cried Uncle Fred. "When did that happen?"
"Just a little while ago," answered Captain Roy. "One of the cowboys
just rode in with the news."
"Well, this is too bad!" cried Uncle Fred.
"I'll tell you what let's do," said Daddy Bunker. "It isn't very late
yet. Let's go out and look at the spring."
"What for?" asked his wife.
"Well," answered the father of the six little Bunkers, "I want to see if
the water has run out of it this time. Perhaps it hasn't, and, if so, it
would mean that the taking away of Uncle Fred's cattle didn't have
anything to do with the mysterious spring."
"Well, it will do no harm to take a look," said the ranchman. "Come
along, Captain Roy. We'll see what it all means."
Taking lanterns with them, they went out in the dark night to look at
the spring.
"It's just the same," called Daddy Bunker, when he had taken a look.
"The water is almost out of it."
"Then we must start, the first thing in the morning, digging at the
place where the boys made their well," declared Uncle Fred. "I must get
at the bottom of the secret of my spring."
"And I'd like to find out who it is that's taking our cattle!" exclaimed
Captain Roy. "I think, in the morning, I'll take some of the cowboys and
have a big hunt. This business must stop. Pretty soon we won't have any
ranch left at Three Star. I'm going to find the men that are taking the
cattle!"
When the six little Bunkers awoke the next morning, there was so much
going on at Three Star Ranch that they did not know what to make of it.
Cowboys were riding to and fro, Uncle Fred and Daddy Bunker were dressed
in old clothes, Captain Roy had a gun slung over his shoulder, and many
horses were standing outside the corral, saddled and bridled.
"Are we going on a picnic?" asked Vi. "Is there going to be a parade? Is
the circus coming? What makes so many horses? Is there going to be a
prairie fire?"
"Well, I guess you've asked enough questions for a while, little girl!"
laughed her mother. "Come and get your breakfast now."
"But what's going on?" insisted Violet.
"Two things," her father told her. "Your uncle and I are going to dig
deeper in the well Russ and Laddie started, to see what makes the
gurgling sound of water under the earth at the bottom of it. And Captain
Roy is going to try to find the men who took Uncle Fred's cattle last
night."
"Oh, can't we help?" asked Laddie.
"You may come and watch us dig your well deeper," his father told him.
"But it would not be safe for little boys to go hunting men who take
cattle."
Just as Captain Roy and a lot of cowboys were about to ride off over the
plain and Daddy Bunker and Uncle Fred were going to dig at the boys'
well, Mrs. Bunker came out of the bunk-house. She had gone to see if
the man with the broken leg needed anything.
"He wants to see you," she said to Uncle Fred. "He says he can tell you
a secret."
"Tell me a secret!" exclaimed the ranchman. "Does he mean about the
mysterious spring, or the stolen cattle?"
"He didn't say," answered Mrs. Bunker. "But he wants you to come to see
him."
So Uncle Fred went. He stayed a long while in the room where Sam
Thurston, the strange cowboy, had been put to bed after his broken leg
was set, and when Uncle Fred came out he was much excited.
"Wait a minute, Captain Roy!" he called to his partner. "I can tell you
where to look for the cattle that were taken last night."
"Where?" asked the former army man, pausing at the head of his band of
cowboys.
"Over in the gully by the creek. They're hidden there."
"Who told you so?"
"Thurston, the strange cowboy. And he has also told me the secret of the
spring, so we won't have to do any digging, Daddy Bunker."
"We won't? Why not?" asked the children's father in surprise.
"Because the cowboy says the reason the water stops coming in at certain
times is because of something that happens back in the hills, where my
spring starts, in a brook that runs under ground after its first
beginning. Back in the hills the men, who have been taking the cattle,
turn the water into another stream. That's why it doesn't run into mine,
and that's why my spring dries up."
"But why do the men shut off our spring water?" asked Captain Roy.
"They do it to make a wet place so they can drive my cattle across it,
and no hoof marks are left to tell which way the animals have gone.
Then, when the cattle are safely away, the waters are let run down where
they always flow, and they come into my spring again. The taking of the
cattle and the drying up of my spring are all done by the same band of
men. That's why, whenever any cattle were taken, the spring dried up.
One went with the other."
"How did Sam Thurston know all this?" asked Daddy Bunker.
"This cowboy with the broken leg used to be one of the band of men who
took my cattle," went on Uncle Fred. "He just told me. He was on his way
to see about taking more of my steers when his horse threw him at the
bridge. That's why he didn't want to come to Three Star Ranch--because
he had treated us so meanly.
"But when he saw how good we were to him he made up his mind not to be
bad any more and to tell about the men. He knows where they hide the
cattle after they steal them, and he says if we go there now we can get
back the steers, and also catch the men who took them. And after this
the spring won't go dry any more."
"Well, well!" exclaimed the children's father. "And to think that two of
the six little Bunkers, by finding the cowboy with the broken leg,
should help solve the spring mystery!"
"It is extraordinary!" exclaimed Uncle Fred. "But I knew as soon as I
saw the little Bunkers in the attic that day I walked into your house,
that they could do something. And they have. Now, Captain Roy, you and
the cowboys ride on and see if you can get back our cattle."
Away rode Captain Roy and the cowboys, and some hours later they came
back with the men, whom they had easily caught. They found the cattle
hidden in a gully, or deep valley, near the creek, and the steers were
driven back to their pasturage on Three Star Ranch.
Then the whole story came out. Sam Thurston and the others of the band,
instead of raising cattle of their own, used to take those belonging to
other ranchmen. They found it easy to take Uncle Fred's, and, by making
a dam, or wall of earth, across the place where the stream started that
fed his spring, they could turn it in another direction, making it flow
over a path, or trail.
Along this trail, when the water covered it, the men drove the cattle
they took from Uncle Fred's field, and the water covered, and washed
away, any marks the cattle's feet made. So no one could see which way
they had been driven.
When the stream was thus dammed it did not flow into the spring, which
went dry. After the dam was taken away the spring filled again.
And so it went on. Each time cattle were taken the spring was made to go
dry, and the men thus fooled Uncle Fred and his cowboys. The bad men
would hide the cattle and sell them to other men who did not know they
were stolen.
So the secret of the spring might never have been discovered except for
Laddie and Russ making that race to the bridge where they found the
cowboy with the broken leg.
Sam Thurston became good after that, his leg healed, and he worked for
Uncle Fred for a number of years. The bad men were sent to prison for a
long time, and had no more chance to take cattle from any one.
"But aren't you going to dig down in the well we made, and see what is
at the bottom of it?" asked Russ of his father, a day or so after the
cattle had been got back and the men sent away.
"Yes, I think we shall," said Uncle Fred. "I'd like to know what that
gurgle of water is."
So they dug and found out. But it had nothing to do with the secret of
the spring, after all. It was only an old pipe, that had been laid some
years before by a man that had formerly owned the ranch, before Uncle
Fred bought it. The man laid a pipe from the overflow of the spring to a
chicken coop, so the hens could get a drink. Then the pipe became
covered over, and the man did not think to tell Uncle Fred about it when
the ranch was sold.
But the secret of the spring was found out, and never after that did it
go dry, and no more of Uncle Fred's cattle were taken.
"So it's a good thing we came out to see you, isn't it, Uncle Fred?"
asked Laddie.
"I should say it was!" laughed his uncle.
"I'm going to make a riddle about it!" went on Laddie. "I don't just
know what it's going to be, or what the answer is. But it will be a
riddle."
"All right," laughed Uncle Fred. "When you think of it tell me. And now
have all the fun you can on Three Star Ranch. There are no more secrets
to bother you."
"What makes 'em call it a ranch?" asked Violet. "Is it 'cause it has a
branch of a tree on it? Or is it an Indian name? And where are all the
Indians you said we'd see, Uncle Fred? And do the Indians and cowboys
ever fight? And do the Indians have bows and arrows, and could I have a
pony ride now?"
"Well, I'll answer the last question by saying you may," said Uncle Fred
with a laugh. "As for the others, we'll see about them later."
"Come on!" cried Russ. "We'll all have pony rides!"
"And I'll get Bill Johnson to give us some cookies so we can play
picnic!" added Laddie.
"Oh, wait for me," called Rose. "I must put my doll to bed before we
start."
"I want to come!" shouted Mun Bun.
"Me, too!" added Margy.
"Bless their hearts! Let 'em have all the fun they can!" laughed Uncle
Fred.
And that's just what we shall do with the six little Bunkers as we take
leave of them, perhaps some time to meet them again.
THE END
* * * * *
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of "The Bobbsey Twins Books," "The Bunny Brown Series," "The
Make-Believe Series," Etc.
Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding
Delightful stories for little boys and girls which sprung into immediate
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Clean, wholesome volumes which ought to be on the bookshelf of every
child in the land.
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL'S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT CAPTAIN BEN'S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COWBOY JACK'S
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS
For Little Men and Women
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of "The Bunny Brown" Series Etc.
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THE BOBBSEY TWINS
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY
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THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST
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Wrapper and text illustrations drawn by
FLORENCE ENGLAND NOSWORTHY
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BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE
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TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS
TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE
TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD
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TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL
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TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
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THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SERIES
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of "The Bobbsey Twins Series."
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THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS UNDER THE PALMS
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THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT SEA
Or a Pictured Shipwreck that Became Real.
A thrilling account of the girls' experiences on the water.
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS IN WAR PLAYS
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THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP
Or Glorious Days on Skates and Ice Boats.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA
Or Wintering in the Sunny South.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW
Or The Box that Was Found in the Sand.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND
Or A Cave and What it Contained.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE
Or Doing Their Bit for Uncle Sam.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT THE HOSTESS HOUSE
Or Doing Their Best for the Soldiers.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT BLUFF POINT
Or A Wreck and A Rescue.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT WILD ROSE LODGE
Or The Hermit of Moonlight Falls.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN THE SADDLE
Or The Girl Miner of Gold Run.
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors corrected.
Frontispiece, "64" changed to "74". (Page 74)
Table of Contents, XVIII-XXV, the page numbers were off by one.
(i.e. Chapter XVIII which was printed in the Table of Contents
as beginning on page 175, in actuality began on page 174. These
numbers where changed to reflect this.)
Page 139, "us" changed to "up". (Margy wakes up)
Page 224, original text had lines out of order
Ride along, and I'll see if I can't crawl over
Russ did not know what to do. He wanted
and get my own horse."
changed to
Ride along, and I'll see if I can't crawl over
and get my own horse."
Russ did not know what to do. He wanted