"He"s safe in the corral," d.i.c.k answered. "We found him wandering around without his bridle on when we went to look for you late yesterday afternoon."
"He must have pulled away from the tree where I had him tied and yanked the bridle off that way," Bud said.
"Horses an" bridles ain"t much account now!" declared Billee. "The main thing is about these darn varmints that treated Bud so. Who do you think they were--I mean what sort of scamps?" asked the old ranch hand, and he fingered his gun, which several other cowboys were doing.
"I think they were cattle rustlers," answered Bud, who seemed to be feeling better each moment. "They must have been hiding in the cave waiting for a chance to drive off some of our stock, when their plans were spoiled by my happening along."
"That"s probably it," agreed Nort. "But what about that soda water cylinder you say they shot at you?"
"I wouldn"t call it soda water," stated Bud with a grim smile. "But it contained some sort of gas and they must have shot it at me for it knocked me out."
"How was it they could turn a stream of poison gas, or at least knock-out gas, on you, Bud, and not suffer from it themselves?" asked d.i.c.k.
"The wind was blowing straight from them to me, down the glen," was the reply. "The breeze carried the stuff to me and it didn"t bother them at all for it floated right from them."
"Just like gas in the war," stated Snake, who had fought in France, as had several of the other husky cowboys. "That"s probably what it was, too, some kind of gas they used in the war. It comes in tanks, and the Germans used to lay a shallow trench full of these cylinders, with the openings in "em pointed our way. Then they"d open a faucet, let the gas out and the wind would blow it right in our faces. If we didn"t put on gas masks it was bye-bye for us."
"But," exclaimed Nort, "Bud wasn"t killed."
"No," agreed Snake with a grim smile, "and we"re darn glad he wasn"t.
Like as not they didn"t use strong gas on him. There"s lots of kinds of gas, you know. I took some once to have a tooth yanked out and I laughed to beat the band. Even in war all the gas wasn"t sure death.
There was a kind that made you cry like you"d lost your best girl."
"That"s the explanation then," decided Nort. "These fellows--call "em rustlers for the time being--have got hold of some kind of knock-out gas 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. "If they"re rustlers why did they just hold Bud a prisoner a while and then light out and not take any stock?"
"They probably figgered the game was up," suggested Snake, "and wanted to 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 had been gathered near Smugglers" Glen, the more distant ones having been signaled to by shots previously agreed upon. And from the leaders of these squads it was learned that no raid had been made during the night. The whole range had been pretty well covered.
"Well, that"s good," said Bud when the welcome news had been conveyed to him.
"Do you think these rustlers were responsible for the deaths here in this valley?" asked Nort. "Have they been setting off this gas--or some 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 before these fellers could have been operating. This is some new dodge, take my 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, I guess," Billee went on. "That"s just something to cover their operations. And it doesn"t solve the other deaths that took place here."
"You say you saw those men digging away in the cave, cracking rocks and the 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. Are you with me, boys?"
"Sure!" cried half a score of cowboys, their hands going to their guns.
"We"ll revenge Bud, too!" exclaimed d.i.c.k.
"That"s the talk!" shouted Yellin" Kid. "Let"s get at these _hombres_ an" chase "em out of the country!"
Eager and excited, angry, and justly so, the crowd was ready for anything. They would have rushed at once into the defile but that Billee Dobb held up a restraining hand.
"We want to go at this thing calm and cautious like," he said. "We want either to catch these scamps or drive "em out. At the same time we want to find out what their game is."
"That"s right," agreed Bud. "The more I think of it the more I"m sure I didn"t _dream_ I saw "em digging something out of the sides of the cave. They _really did it_."
"Diamonds, maybe!" exclaimed Snake, eagerly.
"Be yourself, boy!" chuckled Yellin" Kid. "Diamonds don"t grow out here."
"All right--have it your way," mildly a.s.sented Snake.
"So it would be a good thing to see what these birds were up to," went on Bud. "I"m still so sort of knocked out that I can"t do much. I"ve got to get back and rest up. But if you boys want to go back up there and 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 battle or 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 remain there while the main body of punchers moved up into the glen to capture, if possible, the mysterious men with their more mysterious tank of strange gas. And, after a second consideration of the affair in hand, it was decided that it would be best if the main body of avengers could have one of Fah Moo"s hot breakfasts before starting in on 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 already skipped away to stay."
"I"ve thought of that," stated Old Billee who was sort of commander-in-chief. "We"ll send some scouts up to watch and see what happens. Who"ll volunteer?"
There was no lack on this score, for though the men were all tired from the night"s vigil, on edge from lack of sleep and hungry into the bargain, Billee had three times as many as he needed for scouts.