"Don't be too brash; don't be too brash!" counseled Babe. "But they sure are both bad actors--Del an' Hank!" There was nothing more that needed to, or could, be done at the Pocut River end of the flume, part natural, part artificial, which supplied Bud's new ranch with such a vital necessity as water. The stream had been dammed just above the intake pipe--not completely dammed, but enough to provide the necessary head of water. As Nort had said, had the stream been stopped purposely or by accident inside the tunnel, the water would have backed up and run out around the pipe, flowing into the river below the dam. But this had not occurred. "If it doesn't happen again we'll be all right," spoke Bud, as he rode back with his cousins, making an easy pace along the trail that led over Snake Mountain and down into Flume Valley. "But if the water stops running again----" "Let's go through the tunnel; it's the only way to be sure!" interrupted Nort. "I'm with you!" exclaimed Dick. "It would seem to be the only way," agreed Bud. "Well, we'll hope this is the end of my black-rabbit bad luck, and look for success, now that you fellows are here. Cracky! But we'll have some good times, and there'll be plenty of work, too!" "How many cattle you got?" asked Nort. "About five hundred," Bud answered. "Course you have a share with me, that your dad bought, but we don't own 'em outright yet. My dad still has a mortgage on 'em." "But if we have luck we can clear that off; can't we?" asked Dick. "Sure, this year, maybe," assented Bud. "I never saw steers fatten so fast as ours have since I brought 'em to Flume Valley. I reckon the land, being without water so long, raises a specially fine kind of grass. Of course, there's always some at the far end of the valley, good grass, too, but when there wasn't any water for the cattle to drink there wasn't any use trying to raise stock there. But now it's different." "And all we want is for the water to stay," added Dick. "That's all," chimed in his brother. With Buck Tooth trailing behind, the three boys took the mountain trail and reached their camp near the reservoir that evening. They found Old Billee and Yellin' Kid waiting for them, these two cowboys having been assigned by Mr. Merkel to help his son in the lad's new venture. "Well, yo' got back, I see," remarked Old Billee as he greeted the lads, the Indian going off by himself, for he was rather taciturn in his manner. "Yes, we're here," admitted Bud. "But I can't understand that water coming back so unexpectedly." "Are you sure it stopped running?" asked Yellin' Kid in his usual loud voice. "Sure!" declared Bud. "Didn't Buck see it--or, rather, he didn't see it, for there wasn't any water to see coming through the pipe--only a few drops." "I wouldn't take his word," declared Old Billee. "Not that Buck would actually lie, but those Indians are queer." "Oh, we all saw that the water wasn't running," declared Nort.