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

"That's the explanation then," decided Nort. "These fellows – call 'emrustlers for the time being – have got hold of some kind of knock-outgas and they used it on Bud."

"I sure was knocked out," murmured the young rancher.

"But what's their game?" asked Yellin' Kid in no gentle tones. "Ifthey're rustlers why did they just hold Bud a prisoner a while and thenlight out and not take any stock?"

"They probably figgered the game was up," suggested Snake, "and wantedto make their get-away. Anyhow they didn't get no stock."

"Are you sure of that?" asked Bud.

By this time nearly all the other members of the searching parties hadbeen gathered near Smugglers' Glen, the more distant ones having beensignaled to by shots previously agreed upon. And from the leaders ofthese squads it was learned that no raid had been made during thenight. The whole range had been pretty well covered.

"Well, that's good," said Bud when the welcome news had been conveyedto him.

"Do you think these rustlers were responsible for the deaths here inthis valley?" asked Nort. "Have they been setting off this gas – orsome even worse – and killing cattle, men and horses?"

Billee Dobb shook his head.

"Death Valley got its name a long while back," he said. "Long beforethese fellers could have been operating. This is some new dodge, takemy word for it."

"It's a queer way to rustle cattle – kill 'em with gas," said Yellin'

Kid.

"Oh, they keep the gas for humans that might try to catch 'em, Iguess," Billee went on. "That's just something to cover theiroperations. And it doesn't solve the other deaths that took placehere."

"You say you saw those men digging away in the cave, cracking rocks andthe like of that?" asked Snake.

"That's what I think I saw," spoke Bud. "Of course I don't know what

I really saw and what I may have dreamed, half unconscious as I was.

But it's easy to find out if any digging has been done in the cave. We can take another trip back there and – "

"That's just what we'll do!" cried Nort

"And we'll catch these fellows an' string 'em up!" cried Sam Tarbell."They killed my best horse and I'm going to have revenge on 'em. Areyou with me, boys?"

"Sure!" cried half a score of cowboys, their hands going to their guns.

"We'll revenge Bud, too!" exclaimed Dick.

"That's the talk!" shouted Yellin' Kid. "Let's get at these hombresan' chase 'em out of the country!"

Eager and excited, angry, and justly so, the crowd was ready foranything. They would have rushed at once into the defile but thatBillee Dobb held up a restraining hand.

"We want to go at this thing calm and cautious like," he said. "Wewant either to catch these scamps or drive 'em out. At the same timewe want to find out what their game is."

"That's right," agreed Bud. "The more I think of it the more I'm sureI didn't dream I saw 'em digging something out of the sides of thecave. They really did it."

"Diamonds, maybe!" exclaimed Snake, eagerly.

"Be yourself, boy!" chuckled Yellin' Kid. "Diamonds don't grow outhere."

"All right – have it your way," mildly assented Snake.

"So it would be a good thing to see what these birds were up to," wenton Bud. "I'm still so sort of knocked out that I can't do much. I'vegot to get back and rest up. But if you boys want to go back up thereand see what you can find, and do, I'm willing."

"We sure will!" cried the crowd as one man.

"Let Billee be the leader," suggested Bud.

And in a few minutes the avengers had formed a sort of plan of battleor attack which, they hoped, would solve some of the mystery of Death Valley.

CHAPTER XVIII

DRIVEN BACK

Bud was to go back to the ranch with some of the cowboys and remainthere while the main body of punchers moved up into the glen tocapture, if possible, the mysterious men with their more mysterioustank of strange gas. And, after a second consideration of the affairin hand, it was decided that it would be best if the main body ofavengers could have one of Fah Moo's hot breakfasts before starting inon what might be a strenuous day's work.

"But if we all go in," objected Nort when this plan was outlined,"those fellows up in the glen may escape, if they haven't alreadyskipped away to stay."

"I've thought of that," stated Old Billee who was sort ofcommander-in-chief. "We'll send some scouts up to watch and see whathappens. Who'll volunteer?"

There was no lack on this score, for though the men were all tired fromthe night's vigil, on edge from lack of sleep and hungry into thebargain, Billee had three times as many as he needed for scouts.

Cow-punchers are "he-men," and little things like loss of sleep anddelay in getting breakfast do not bother them. It was arranged thatwhen the main body returned, after a session with the Chinese cook, they would bring a "snack" for the scout volunteers.

"And some hot coffee in thermos bottles," added Bud, who knew how thatwould be appreciated. "We have some thermos bottles at the ranch. Ionly hope I'll feel able to come back and help fight."

"Do you think there'll be a fight?" asked Yellin' Kid, eagerly.

"It's likely," said Billee.

"Whoop-ee!" roared the loud-voiced one and his joyous sentiment wasechoed on all sides. Bud looked a little glum that he could not be "inon the fun," as he called it later. But he was more done up than heimagined, for he had gone through a strenuous time, though he had notactually been mistreated.

So while some of the cowboys more recently engaged were sent into theglen as scouts, the main body, with Bud riding on a spare horse whichhad been brought along for just such an eventuality, went back to theranch.

There things soon began to "hum," as Nort and Dick expressed it. Theyhad had experience before with desperate and unscrupulous men who, asrustlers, or otherwise, had endeavored to make trouble for the boyranchers. And the young managers of Dot and Dash did not shrink fromthe coming conflict.

"Can do – sure!" was the bland reply of Fah Moo when asked if he couldget breakfast for the bunch in a hurry. "Sure can do!"

And he did.

Guns were looked to, extra ammunition was packed, hurried snatches offood were the order of the day, and when baskets of grub had beenpacked for the scouts left on guard, once more the cavalcade startedoff.

On the way to Smugglers' Glen a sort of campaign was outlined andagreed upon. It was decided to advance on foot against the men in thecave, for the defile was so narrow, and the footing so uncertainbecause of loose rocks, large and small, that horses would be adisadvantage rather than a help in case of a fight.

"We'll leave the ponies at the entrance, same as Bud did his,"suggested Old Billee.

"All alone?" asked Nort. "Some of those fellows may sneak up in ourrear and make off with our mounts."

"They won't be unguarded," declared Billee, who was too old a fighterto make the mistake of leaving his rear open to attack. "I'll have acouple of the hands stay with the horses."

"Not me you won't!" shouted Yellin' Kid. "Me, I'm goin' to fight!

I'm not goin' to be nurse-maid for a lot of cow ponies!"

"Me either!" declared Snake.

"Order in the ranks!" snapped Billee with blazing eyes. "I'm in chargehere, by the instructions of the boss, and I won't have anybody sayingwhat they will and won't do! You heard me!"

He was as different from the usual mild Old Billee Dobb as chalk isfrom cheese. He was in his element and he knew it.

"No offense, chief," said Yellin' Kid, humbly and in subdued tones.

"But I do want to get a shot at these fellers!"

"I wonder if Del Pinzo can be back of this gang?" mused Nort as he rodebeside his brother toward the glen.

"I wouldn't put it past him," answered Dick. "But I thought he was injail."

"They don't seem to make, out here, the kind of jails that will keepDel Pinzo behind the bars," commented Nort. "If he's around thesediggings he'd be the very one to engineer some dirty trick."

"Speaking of diggings," went on Dick, "what do you reckon it was Budsaw those fellows digging out of the sides of the cave?"

"Give it up, for the time being. We'll find out when we get inside.But in spite of the fact that Bud thinks he saw some queer operationshe may have dreamed it all – after that gas attack, you know."

"Yea, I guess so. It's queer all around. Fancy rustlers being so upto date as to use the tactics of chemical warfare."

"There's been a lot of strange things since the Big War," stated Nort.

"Maybe some of these rustlers were in the chemical division of the

A.E.F. and learned tricks there of how to make and send out of cylinders gas that would knock a man out but not kill him."

"That's possible. But what about the horses, cattle and men who werekilled here in Death Valley? I mean years ago, the way Billee tellsit. Did these fellows have anything to do with that?"

"Hard to say, but I don't believe so."

"Then what did?"

"That's what we've got to find out after we get through with this gang."

The avengers urged their ponies ahead at a fast clip and the sun wasstill far from the meridian when they came in sight of the entrance tothe defile. Dark and sinister it loomed in contrast to the brightnessof the day. What secrets did it hold?

"I wonder if Old Tosh is up there, helping the rustlers?" mused Dick as

Billee got ready to call a halt and deploy his forces.

"Don't believe that old yarb doctor does any more harm than givingChinks the stomach-ache," chuckled Nort. "But he may have rented thatcave to those fellows."

"Nervy of him, considering that the cave is on Dot and Dash land," said

Dick.

It did not take long to get ready for the attack. Billee named the menhe wanted to remain as a rear guard in charge of the horses, and theyaccepted the detail in as cheerful spirits as possible. To the reliefof Yellin' Kid and Snake Purdee, they were not compelled to remain thusinactive.

"Though you fellows may have a fight on your hands," Billee said to thehorse guard as he posted them, "these fellows may dash out after werouse 'em, and it'll be up to you to deal with 'em."

"We'll do that all right, boss," chuckled a big, lanky puncher, one ofthe new hands hired.

With Nort and Dick at his side, Billee Dobb led the way up into thedark defile. Every man had his gun out and was eager-eyed for whatmight happen next.

"Don't make any more noise than you can help," cautioned Billee to themen back of him. "We want to surprise these hombres if we can."

On and on they went, over big and little bowlders, up into the glenwhere the frowning, towering walls looked down on them. The passagebecame narrower. They were now approaching the cave.

"Steady, boys!" called Billee as they rounded a turn and came withinview of the dark entrance to the cavern.

It was a tense moment. Some of the men carried a gun in either hand.Nort and Dick had one each, and Billee was armed likewise. A littlewind began blowing down the gulch in the faces of the attackers. Itseemed to bring with it a slight mist.

"Gettin' foggy," commented Snake. "I wonder – "

Then he began to cough and choke. So did Nort, Dick and Old Billee.

The white mist came floating nearer.

"Look out, boys!" suddenly shouted Yellin' Kid. "It's a gas attack, same as in the war. Look out!"

A moment later the party was sneezing, coughing and gasping for breathas the faint white mist, blown by the wind, enveloped them. It causeda terrible, gripping sensation, a constriction of the throat muscles sothat breathing was difficult.

"They've got us!" yelled Billee. "We can't fight poison gas! Back up, boys! We've got to run!"

It was impossible to advance in the face of this mysterious surpriseattack and the avengers were driven back. Gasping, and trying to keepfrom collapsing under the afflicting sensation, the Dot and Dash menwere forced to retreat from their unseen foes.

CHAPTER XIX

GAS MASKS

"Hold on!" yelled Snake Purdee as he swung around a ledge at the edgeof the narrow entrance to Smugglers' Glen and made a grab at Nort whowas running as fast as he could under the weakening influence of thegas. "It's all right here – the wind will blow the stuff to the east.Swing around here, everybody!" and he indicated a niche to the west ofthe entrance.

Nort stopped, his brain dully comprehending what Snake meant. Then theothers in the wild, frightened retreat sensed what the words wereintended to convey and, one after another, they gathered there incomparative safety with Snake, Nort and Dick.

"Whew!" gasped Billee Dobb whose age was telling on him, not only inthe rapid, forced retreat, but in the effect of the gas. "That wastough! But what makes you think we'll be safe here, Snake?"

"On account of the wind blowing the gas away from us. Look, there itfloats to the east. We're safe here. I didn't get nearly gassed inthe war for nothing. We're safe here till the wind shifts and it won'tdo that right away."

"What about the horses?" gasped Dick, taking deep breaths to ridhimself of the gas already breathed.

"They're all right – they're up wind, too!" shouted Yellin' Kid, whoselungs did not seem to have suffered much.

This was true enough. The ponies, with the guard of cowboys, were tothe west of the gorge entrance and, as Snake had been quick to observe, the strange, white mist which had so mysteriously floated out of thecave toward the avengers, was drifting, now, out of the mouth of thedefile and off to the east.

"If any of the cattle get in the path of that they'll be killed!"exclaimed Dick, noting how the mist clung to the ground and rolledalong as fog sometimes does when the clouds are low.

"The bunch isn't down there," said Billee.

"And I don't know as that gas is so very deadly after all," statedSnake, breathing deep after a few cautious inhalations to make sure theair was clear.

"Then what'd you run for?" Yellin' Kid wanted to know.

"Because I wasn't sure of what sort of stuff it was. There's lots ofkinds of gas, you know. We had one kind in the war that would justknock a man out for a few hours. I reckon that's the kind they shot atBud and the kind they just now loosed at us. But I wasn't takin' anychances!"

"I should say not!" cried Billee Dobb. "But now we're out of dangerfor a while, what's to be done next?"

Nort had the answer ready in a moment.

"Gas masks!" he exclaimed.

"Gas masks?" echoed Billee.

"Sure! I get you!" cried Snake. "That's the ticket! Gas masks! Sameas we used in war when the Germans let their gas loose. Why didn't Ithink of it before?"

"There's been so much happening!" remarked Dick, "that it's a wonder wethought of half we did. But gas masks would be just what is neededhere. Only where are we going to get them?"

Up spoke one of the new cowboys to observe:

"There's a branch of the American Legion in Los Pompan. I belong to itand so do some of the other boys. 'Tain't much of a branch, but theygot some war relics hangin' around the meetin' room, and I seen somegas masks there the last time I was in. I reckon we can borrow themwithout any trouble."

"Golly! That's the cheese!" cried Nort.

"But are the masks any good?" Dick asked. "If they're relics of thewar they're likely to be old and no good. And a gas mask that won'tkeep gas out is worse than none at all."

"You're right there!" exclaimed Sim Roller, who had proposed thematter. "Some of the masks are the same as the boys used in France.But others are new ones they got from the gov'ment lately to decoratethe meetin' room. I reckon they'd be fresh, with charcoal in andeverything needed."

"Will you see if you can get some for us?" asked Billee, who was incharge during the forced absence of Bud.

"Sure!"

"Good!" cried Nort. "Then we'll come back and have another go at thesefellows!"

"Yes, it will need another go," remarked Billee, looking at theentrance to the defile out of which a faint mist was still floating."We don't dare go back at 'em now, unprotected. They're regulardevils, that's what they are! Devils!"

"Wonder what their game is?" mused Dick as he and his brother, with theother cowboys, moved to where their horses were picketed in charge ofthe guard.

"They want to keep us out of that glen," suggested Nort.

"But why?" went on Dick.

"So they can poison more cattle and bust up this ranch and rustle whatstock they don't kill," was what Nort answered.

"It doesn't seem reasonable that they'd poison cattle," and Dick shookhis head. "What good would dead ones be to them? They can't be sold, and it wouldn't pay to kill 'em just for the hides."

"No, that's so," admitted Nort. "But they evidently want to keep usout of that glen, and drive us away from the ranch if possible, so theycan have it for themselves."

"Part of that seems like to be true," spoke Billee, taking a part inthe discussion. "But this isn't the first time there have been queerdoings at Dot and Dash. Years ago I'm pretty sure there was no band ofdevils up here with cylinders of gas. This is something new."

"Tell me, Billee," resumed Nort, "on what sections of the ranch didmost of the deaths occur – I mean when you worked here?"

"Well," and the veteran scratched his head reflectively, "as near as Ican remember they was all somewhere near this glen, come to think ofit."

"And this is where Sam Tarbell's horse was killed and where Sam wasknocked out – near this glen; wasn't it?" went on Nort.

"That's true enough."

"And it's from this glen that Bud got his dose of poison gas and where, just now, we got ours; isn't it?"

"Sure," Billee was forced to say.

"Well, then," went on Nort, "isn't it reasonable to suppose that thisband – or some bunch like it – has been doing this right along?"

Here Billee shook his head.

"You can't make me believe," he said, "that this gang, or one like it, has been doin' this gas business all along. In the first place theearliest, mysterious death on Dot and Dash took place many years ago, before poison gas in war was thought of. I won't deny that this bunchback there," and he nodded in the direction of Smugglers' Glen, "Iwon't deny but what they may be usin' war gas. But it wasn't so yearsago.".

"Then it looks," spoke Dick, "as if these men had some object inkeeping us out of the glen."

"That's it!" cried Billee. "There's something up there they don't wantus to find out."

"Maybe it's the secret Old Tosh has of makin' sarsaparilla," said Snake.

"No," objected Dick, "I don't believe the old man is mixed up in thisat all. He was in the cave, that's sure, but I think this bunch ofrascals with their poison gas have deposed him and taken possession fortheir own ends."

"And what those ends are it's for us to find out," suggested Nort.

"Sure!" cried his companions.

"We'll get gas masks and make another attack!" added Snake.

"I wonder what we'll find?" mused Dick.

"Bud could have told if they hadn't knocked him out," suggested Nort."He says he saw them pounding rocks and digging in the sides of thecave. They were after something besides cattle, that's sure."

"Diamonds!" some one said.

"That's been mentioned before," remarked Dick. "It is out of thequestion, I think, but it may be something always associated withdiamonds."

"What's that?" exclaimed several.

"Gold, maybe," was the quick answer, and into the eyes of every manthere came a sudden, new gleam.

"By golly!" cried Yellin' Kid in his loudest tones, "I'll bet you'reright! There's a gold mine in that cave and those fellers want to keepit for themselves! Whoopee! Let's get them there gas masks and rustlethe whole bunch over the border. Then we'll have the gold forourselves! Come on!"

CHAPTER XX

GLITTERING YELLOW

Such excitement followed the Kid's outburst that the very horses seemedimbued with it. The cowboys, keeping well out of the way of thatfloating, white cloud of gas – more or less poisonous, it was not to bedoubted – had mounted their animals and were on their way, by aroundabout trail, to the ranch house.

"Gold!" muttered Snake. "Do you really think there's gold in thatcave?"

"It would not be beyond the bounds of possibility," Dick replied. "I'mnot a geologist, and I don't know anything about mining. But the westis the home of gold, and so is Mexico. We're not far from Mexico.What's to prevent a ledge or seam of gold from running up into thesehills, or small mountains, and cropping out in that cave? What's toprevent?"

"Nothing!" came from Billee, a new light in his eyes.

"It would be very natural, I think," added Nort.

"That would account for what Bud saw – the men picking away at the stonesides of the cave," went on Dick. "And the roof and sides are ofrock – that my brother and I saw."

"Then we're on the right track!" cried Snake joyfully. "I been tryin'to figger out what all this meant, but I see it now. The other poisonattacks, where cattle and men died, didn't have nothin' to do with thegas we just now ran away from. Somebody else must have been the blameof that, or maybe it wasn't poison gas at all – might 'a' been just badwater or loco-weed. But this is different."

"Yes," agreed Nort, "this is different. We know, positively, that thisgas attack was launched by men."

"Men who want to keep us out of that cave 'cause it's full of gold!"murmured Old Billee. "Boys, for once I see daylight ahead of me! I'mgoin' to turn miner! I'm through nursin' cattle! I'm goin' to diggold and retire rich! By golly, I am!"

"You better wait until we see the color of pay dirt!" chuckled Snake.

"And until we get those fellows out!" added another cowboy.

"Oh, we'll git them out soon as we have them gas masks!" declaredBillee, who seldom had shown such enthusiasm. "By golly, at last I seedaylight! I'll soon lay this on the shelf," and he patted his oldlariat.

"I hope he isn't disappointed," murmured Dick to his brother.

"Do you really believe there's a chance of finding gold in that cave?"

Nort asked in a low voice.

"I really do. Why else would those fellows want to keep us out? Itcan't be that it's a mere cattle-rustling game."

"No," admitted Nort, "I don't believe it's that. But – gold! Seemssort of far-fetched."

"Well, maybe I'm wrong," went on Dick. "But we'll soon find out, ifthose gas masks are any good."

On the way back to the circle of ranch buildings a close lookout waskept for any sign of intruders on the range of Dot and Dash. But nostrangers were seen, nor did a casual survey of the various herdsscattered over the plains disclose any casualties.

"I guess everything that happens takes place around Smugglers' Gulch,"observed Dick.

"Seems so," admitted his brother.

No one had suffered any serious results from the gas attack. It hadbeen discovered so quickly, and the retreat had been made so promptly, thanks to Snake's vigilance, that aside from a little irritation oftheir mouths and throats the attackers were not injured. Theirritation soon passed away and was about gone when they neared theranch.

"They were just teasing us that time," decided Snake. "The next timethey'll shoot some real nasty gas at us."

"And that's the time we'll be ready with the masks," declared Nort.

Bud Merkel was as excited as either of his cousins when he heard thenews. He declared no better plan could be devised than going againstthe unknown cave dwellers with gas masks and a telephone message wassoon on the way, asking the commander of the Los Pompan branch of theAmerican Legion for the loan of as many of the protectors as wereneeded.

In due time word came back that the Dot and Dash ranchers were quitewelcome to the masks. Snake and Kid, as experts in their use, and asjudges of the best ones to bring back, were sent as a committee intotown to get the life-saving apparatus.

It was next day, when the gas masks had been tried on by the cowboyswho were to use them, and plans were being talked over for a secondattack, that Nort suggested:

"Maybe we ought to try these masks before we use them. They may bedefective in spite of the fact that they look all right."

"Not a bad idea," agreed Bud. "But we haven't any poison gas to try'em with."

"If we could go in a room filled with ammonia, or some such vapor asthat, we could soon tell if the masks were any good," Dick suggested.