CHAPTER XI
THE RUSH OF WATERS
Echoes of the footsteps of the boy ranchers sounded and resounded asthey tramped along the now dry water-course of what had, only a daybefore, been a life-giving stream of water. The rocky androughly-vaulted roof overhead gave back the noises like the soundbox ofa phonograph, and the lads had to speak loudly, in places, to maketheir voices carry above the echoes. These places were spots where thevaulted roof of the tunnel was higher than usual.
They had walked on, the semi-circular spot of light at the entrancenear the black pipe growing more and more faint, until it was not atall visible.
"There she goes!" exclaimed Dick, looking back.
"What?" asked his brother.
"The last gleam of daylight," was the answer. "If anything happens toour lanterns, so that they go out, and we get mixed up in some branchpassages--good night! That's all I have to say!" and Dick was veryemphatic in this.
"By Zip Foster!" exclaimed Bud, using that expression for the firsttime in several days. "You're a cheerful chap to have along on apicnic like this, Dick! Not!"
"Well, might as well prepare for the worst and hope for the best,"laughed Dick, while Nort inquired:
"Why don't you tell us more about Zip Foster?"
"Oh--you--say, did you hear anything then?" asked Bud, and his voicehad in it such a note of anxiety that his companions did not, at thetime, imagine he might have been putting them off from a much-wantedand often-delayed explanation of this mysterious Zip Foster personage.
"Hear what!" asked Dick.
"Something like water running," replied Bud. "I have a notion that ourstream--I call it ours for it doesn't seem to belong to anyoneelse--our stream may just trickle off, now and then, into some otherunderground course."
"Maybe it does," agreed Dick. "But I don't hear any water running."
"Nor I," added his brother.
"Maybe I was mistaken," Bud admitted. "But I sure would like to comeacross that missing water of mine!"
He little realized, nor did the others, what fruit his wish was tobear, and that very shortly.
"I guess what you heard was the echoes," spoke Dick. "I never heard somany queer noises."
"It's like the cave of the winds," murmured Nort. "But it's a greatadventure all the same, Bud! I mean it would be great if we didn'thave to worry about the water not coming back," he made haste to add,for he realized what it would mean to their new ranch in Flume Valleyif no drink could be had for the cattle.
"It beats the finding of the Triceratops all to slathers!" exclaimedDick, "and that was no slouch of a happening, either."
"Yes, no telling what's ahead of us," spoke Bud, as he walked along,unsteadily enough for the way was rough and filled with stones. And,as the boys tramped along in the tunnel, part of the time in the verybed of the stream that had gone dry, their lanterns cast fantasticshadows on the rocky walls. I have said that the stream was dry, butthis was not strictly true, for in places, where the uneven bed formeddepressions, there were pools of water. And, in some places, therewere even little rills trickling along. But they never would reach theiron pipe that discharged into the reservoir.
On and on tramped the boys, pausing, now and then, to hold up theirlanterns and inspect the rocky walls of the underground tunnel whichechoed so strangely to their footsteps, and through which sweptstrange, cold and clammy winds.
"Well, I reckon we'll have to go all the way to the end before wediscover anything, if we do find it," said Bud, when they had walked onfor over an hour. Their pace was slow because of the uneven footing.
"And when we get to the other end and find the water running into thepipe at the dam in Pocut River, what then?" asked Nort.
"We'll hardly find that, I think," said Bud. "Or, I mean, we won'thave to go all the way to the other end if the water is found runningthere."
"Why not?" asked Dick.
"Because, if the water's running in from the dam end of the pipe, we'llmeet the stream before we get all the way through the tunnel," Budexplained. "I meant to call up on the telephone and find out ifeverything was all right at the river end before we started out, but Iforgot. My theory is that the stream gets into this tunnel from theriver all right, but is shunted off before it reaches us," he added.
"How shunted?" Dick wanted to know.
"That's what I can't tell," spoke Bud. "But why try to puzzle this outuntil we get something better to work on? I'm hungry! What do you saythat we eat?"
"Suits me," agreed Nort.
"I'm not going to vote in the negative," asserted Dick.
They judged that they were about a quarter way through the mysterioustunnel now, and, setting down the lanterns on the rocky floor, the boyranchers took out the food they had brought with them. It would berisky to kindle a fire in that enclosed place, Bud decided, as thesmoke might choke them, though so far they had found an abundance offresh air, a current blowing part of the time in their faces, and partof the time in the opposite direction. This proved that there was agood draft in the elongated cave, but it was voted best not to take anychances, though there was plenty of dried driftwood on the tunnelfloor, and this could have been used for a blaze.
But the boys sat about in the gleam of their lanterns, and, while theyate the sandwiches they had brought, they talked of the strangehappenings that had led up to this venture in which they were nowjoined.
Suddenly Bud, who had just taken up a piece of fruit cake, part of achunk that his pretty sister Nell had sent over from the main ranchhouse a day or so before, stopped chewing in order to listen better;for, as you doubtless know, the action of the jaws precludes keenattention to outside sounds.
"What's the matter?" asked Dick, noting his cousin's act.
"I heard something," Bud answered.
"I'm hearing things all the while!" declared Dick. "This is the mostweird place for mysterious noises I ever struck!"
"But this is different," insisted Bud. "Listen!"
Nort and Dick stopped chewing and strained their ears to catch thesound that had attracted Bud's attention. A strange, rushing,whispering echo seemed to fill the tunnel.
"Doesn't that sound like rushing water?" asked Bud.
"Yes," agreed Dick, after a moment of intentness; "it does."
"Look out!" quickly yelled Nort. "It _is_ water, and on the rush, too!Jump for your lives! It's a flood!" and making a grab for one of thelanterns, that they might not be left in total blackness, he sprangtoward the rocky side of the tunnel, an example followed by hiscompanions.
And the rush of waters filled the underground cave with a mighty,roaring sound.