CHAPTER VII
DOUBLING UP
Nort and Dick looked at each other as Bud slipped into the tent wherethe telephone had been installed. Snake Purdee strode over to thewater pail, and took a long drink.
"That's good stuff!" he remarked with a sigh of satisfaction, and thenhe led his pony to the trough, into which the thirsty animal dipped hismuzzle deeply. "Mighty good water!"
"An' I hope nothing happens to it," voiced Old Billee.
"Happens! What d'yo' mean?" questioned the bearer of bad tidings."The water's here, ain't it?"
"But no tellin' how long it'll run," added the veteran cowpuncher. "Ablack rabbit run across Bud's path the day he was ridin' to meet Nortand Dick, and ever since then----"
"Do you mean t' tell me you still believe in that old superstition?"laughed Snake Purdee, who had acquired this name because of hisexceeding fear of rattlers and other reptiles. He had been bittenonce, he declared, and had nearly died.
"There's more'n superstition!" declared Old Billee. "Look at that!"and he brought out the board warning, and related the incident of themysterious disappearance of the water, and its equally strangereappearance.
"Oh, it's just one of those freaks of the old, underground rivercourse," said Snake. "Of course I wouldn't put much past Hank Fisherand Del Pinzo, but if either of them sent these warnings it was t' playa joke, an' scare our boy ranchers. Guess Hank's jealous!" laughedSnake.
"But what has happened over at Square M?" asked Dick.
"Has Hank or Del Pinzo anything to do with that?" Nort wanted to know.
"I don't see how they could," spoke Snake. "It's just that----"
But at this moment Bud came out of the tent, having finished histelephonic talk with his father.
"There's an epidemic of disease at dad's Square M ranch," Bud explainedto his cousins and the others. "It's so bad that a lot of the steershave already died, and dad is going to take off the rest of the stockbefore they catch the trouble. Some he's going to put at Triangle B,some at Diamond X and some he's going to haze over to us. We'll haveto double up, fellows," he told Nort and Dick. "I guess dad is gladhe's got Flume Valley now. It may save him a lot of money thatotherwise he'd lose."
"Got t' double up, eh?" murmured Old Billee Dobb. "How many head's hegoin' t' send here, Bud?"
"About five hundred he told me. They'll be stock that hasn't been nearthe infected cattle," he went on, "so there won't be any danger to ourherds."
"Can we look after five hundred more steers?" asked Nort.
"Oh, I'm comin' to help you," offered Snake. "I forgot t' say that Iwas going t' move into one of your _flats_," and he waved his handtoward where the white tents made an attractive camp. "Didn't bring myduffle bag," he added, "but one of th' boys is going t' ride over thisevening with his 'n' mine."
"Is some one else coming?" Bud wanted to know. "If we double up toomuch we'll need more grub."
"Your dad told me t' tell you he'd send some," went on Snake. "Yep, anew ranch hand is due t' arrive this evenin'. He's a wonder with th'gun an' rope, t' hear him tell it!" chuckled Snake.
"One of them fly boys?" asked Old Billee, mildly, with a gleam of lightin his eyes, however. "Will his heels need clippin', Snake?"
"Might," was the brief answer. "But now you know th' worst. There'strouble at Square M, an' you'll have to double up with cow punchers an'stock, Bud."
"I don't mind," said the boy rancher. "Dad says he'll split theprofits with me, and that's what we're looking for--to make a successof Flume Valley ranch. We'll do it, too!" he asserted confidently.
"If th' water holds out, an' no more black rabbits don't throw you,"murmured Old Billee Dobb.
"Shucks!" laughed Bud, but the day was to come when he recalled the oldcowboy's ominous warning.
"It's queer, though," said Bud that evening, when they were gatheredaround the camp fire, discussing the coming of the cattle from SquareM, which were to arrive the following day, or the one after that."It's queer what made that disease break out so suddenly among dad'ssteers. There aren't any cases of it at Double Z; are there?" he askedSnake. "And Fisher's place is the next one nearest ours."
"No, I don't recall hearin' that Hank's stock is sufferin' any," thecowboy admitted. "But Square M is hard hit. It's a disease thegovernment experts are tryin' t' find a remedy for. Been experimentin'with all sorts of serums, germs an' th' like, I understand."
"Is it a germ disease?" asked Nort.
"That's what they call it," the cowboy asserted. "It can be giveneasy, from one steer to another, just by rubbin' horns, so t' speak.Or the trouble may break out sudden in a herd, if th' germ gets loosein 'em."
"That's all bosh!" declared Pocut Pete, the new cowboy who had arrivedjust about grub time, with his own outfit and that of Snake Purdee, whohad ridden over "light."
"What's bosh?" asked Old Billee.
"The idea that this disease is spread by germs, or 'bugs,' as somefolks call 'em. I think the cattle get poisoned by eating some weed,same as lots of 'em get locoed."
"Well, maybe," agreed Bud. "Anyhow, we got good feed here, and plentyof water for dad's cattle, as well as ours. We can double up as wellas not. Now I wonder if we have blankets enough for you two?" and helooked at Snake and Pocut, who said his name had been given him as hehad "punched" cows so long in the vicinity of the Pocut River.
"Oh, we'll make out," asserted Snake, who was easily suited.
But Bud, being the nominal head of the camp, would leave nothing tochance. While some of the others were still about the flickering campfire, talking of the trouble at Square M, the strange disappearance ofthe water and kindred topics, the boy rancher went to inspect the tentwhere the older cowboys were to pass the night.
It was fitted with cots enough, and one to spare, but Bud wanted tomake sure of the blankets. For it gets cold at night on the westernplains on even very hot days.
As Bud entered the tent he saw, in the dim light of a turned-downlantern, a figure sitting on one of the cots.
"That you, Snake?" Bud asked.
"No, it's me," answered the voice of the new cowboy, Pocut Pete.
"Oh," remarked the lad, and as the other arose Bud caught the tinkle ofglass. For a moment an ugly suspicion entered Bud's mind, but when hisnostrils did not catch the smell of liquor, which was strictlyforbidden on all Mr. Merkel's ranches, Bud felt a sense of relief.
Pocut Pete passed out, after Bud had assured himself that there wereblankets enough, and as the boy rancher was leaving the tent, he trodon something that broke, with a grating sound, under his foot.
Boy Ranchers in Camp; Or, The Water Fight at Diamond X Page 7
