"Who you reckon it is?" asked Nort. He and his brother were rapidly falling into the custom of using the picturesque if not always elegant talk of the west. Nort spoke in a whisper, and Bud answered in the same tone. "Can't imagine who it may be," spoke the western lad, "but if it's Hank, Del Pinzo, or any of their gang----" He did not finish, but a slight movement told that he was freeing his .45 in its holster, an example quickly followed by Nort and Dick. Meanwhile the steps continued to approach, echoing loudly in the vaulted tunnel, as if the maker of them had no design to conceal his movements. In another few seconds the boys saw, looming in front of them, as displayed by the gleam of their half-hidden lantern, a bulky figure. At the same moment the figure seemed to become aware of the presence in the tunnel of others besides himself. "Who's there?" came in sharp challenge. And what a relief it was to the boy ranchers when they heard that voice. "Slim!" cried Bud. "Slim Degnan!" "That you, Bud?" called the foreman of Diamond X ranch, as he recognized the voice of his employer's son, while Bud, in turn, sensed whom the looming figure was. "Sure!" Bud joyously answered. "And Nort and Dick are here! Say, what's the matter with our water? Is there a stoppage at the dam?" "Nary a stop, but your dad got a telephone from your side-partners at the valley camp, saying you'd started through the tunnel to see what caused the shut-off. I happened to be over near Square M, seeing if I could get on the track of that cattle epidemic, and they relayed your dad's message on to me. So I hit the trail for here." "What was dad's message?" Bud wanted to know. "Why, he said you, and them tenderfeet---- No, I'll take _that_ back!" Slim hastened to say as he recalled all that Nort and Dick had done. "Anyhow, he said they shouldn't have allowed you to come in the tunnel alone, and he asked some of the men, from this end, to go in and see if they could locate you." "You found us," said Bud. "Well," resumed Slim, "I just got here, heard the news and I started in. Some of the others are coming, but I guess we don't need to make any search. You're here!" "And more by good luck than good management," asserted Dick. "How's that?" asked Slim, as they all started for the opening at the river end of the tunnel, where daylight dimly showed. "Why, when we started in at the other side the stream was dry," explained Bud. "There wasn't a drop coming through the pipe into the reservoir, and we left, early this morning, to see what the trouble was. When we got half way through the stream suddenly began flowing, and there was a regular flood. Only that we found a ledge to climb up on, we'd been drowned!" "As bad as that!" gasped Slim. "Every bit!" Dick asserted. "But tell me," went on Bud, "did the water stop at the river end, Slim? Was there any stoppage at the dam or pipe?"