"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 pa.s.sing 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 d.i.c.k 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 d.i.c.k. "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 d.i.c.k, 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. Ill.u.s.trated. 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