THE GIRL AVIATORS ON GOLDEN WINGS

By Margaret Burnham

CHAPTER I

THE GREAT ALKALI

"And so this is the great Nevada desert!"

Peggy Prescott wrinkled her nose rather disdainfully as she gazedfrom the open window of the car out over the white, glitteringexpanse--dotted here and there with gloomy-looking clumps of sagebrush--through which they had been traveling for some little timepast. 

"This is it, " nodded her brother Roy; "what do you think of it, sis?"

"Um--er, I shall have to wait a while before I answer that, "rejoined Peggy judicially. 

"Well, here's Jimsy; let's ask him, " cried Roy, as a lad of his ownage, accompanied by a slender, graceful girl, came down the aisle ofthe car and approached the section in which the two young Prescottswere sitting. 

"Jimsy Bancroft, " demanded Roy, "we are now on the great Nevadadesert, or on the edge of it. Does it meet with your approval?"

"There's plenty of it anyhow, " laughed Jimsy, "and really it's verymuch like what I expected it would be. "

"I feel like a regular cowgirl or--a--er--well, what the newspaperscall a typical Westerner already, " said Jess Bancroft, Jimsy'ssister. 

"Only typical Westerners don't protect their delicate complexionsfrom dust with cold cream, " laughed Peggy, holding up a fingerreprovingly. "As if any beauty magazine won't tell you it's awoman's duty to take the greatest care of her complexion, " parriedJess. "Roy and I have been sitting out on the observation platformon the last coach--that is, we sat there till the dust drove us in. "

She shook the folds of a long, light pongee automobile coat she woreand a little cloud of dust arose. They all coughed as the pungentstuff circulated. 

"Ugh, " cried Roy, "it makes your eyes smart. "

"That's the alkali in it, " quoth Jimsy sagely, "alkali is--"

"Very unpleasant, " coughed Peggy. 

"But as we are likely to have to endure it for the next few weeks, "struck in Roy, "we might as well lose no time in getting accustomedto it. "

"Well girls and boys, " came a deep, pleasant voice behind them, "weshall be in Blue Creek in a short time now, so gather up yourbelongings. I'll take care of the aeroplane outfits and the otherstuff in the baggage car, " he went on, "and here comes Miss Prescottnow. "

The lady referred to was a sweet-faced woman of some fifty years ofage, though it was easy to see that the years had dealt kindly withher during her placid life in the village of Sandy Beach, on LongIsland, New York, where she had made, her home. Miss Prescott wasthe aunt of the two Prescott children, and since their father'sdeath some time before had been both mother and father to them--theirown mother having passed away when they were but small children. 

As readers of the first volume of this series know, Mr. Prescott hadbeen an inventor of some distinction. Dying, he had confided to hisson and daughter his plans for a non-capsizable aeroplane of greatpower. His son had promised to carry on the work, and had devotedhis legacy to this purpose. 

In that volume, which was called "The Girl Aviators and the PhantomAirship, " it will be recalled, it was told how Peggy had been ofmaterial aid to her brother in his plans and hopes, and had, inreality, "saved the day" for him when he fell into the hands of someenemies. This occurred on the eve of a great aeroplane contest inwhich Roy had entered in the hopes of winning the first prize. Withthe money thus obtained he planned to pay off a mortgage held onMiss Prescott's home by an unscrupulous old banker, whose son wasthe prime mover in the plots against Roy. 

One of the means adopted to force him to sell his secrets was themanipulation of a phantom aeroplane which, for a time, sadly puzzledthe lad and his sister. The mystery was solved in a strange way, however, and almost at the same time, the baffling problem of whathad become of Mrs. Bancroft's jewels was also unraveled. All thisdid not take place without many adventures being encountered by thefour chums. Among these was the encounter with the old hermit, PeterBell, who, through Peggy's agency, was restored to his brother, James Bell, the millionaire western mining man. 

James Bell became much interested in the Prescotts and theiraeroplanes. Finally he made an advantageous proposal to Roy totravel West and operate for him a line of aeroplanes from somedesert mines he had discovered on a trip which almost cost him hislife. As autos could not cross the alkali, and transportation ofthe product by wagons would have been prohibitive in cost, as wellas almost impossible to achieve, Mr. Bell had hit on the happy ideaof conveying the precious product of his property by aeroplane. 

At the same time, it so happened that Mr. Bancroft, the father ofJess and Jimsy, was summoned West by an important railroad deal. This being the case, Jess and Jimsy at once set to work plotting howthey could gain their father's consent to their accompanying Peggyand Roy. It was finally gained, although Mrs. Bancroft shook herhead over the matter, and, at first, would by no means hear of sucha thing. But Mr. Bancroft urged that it would be a good thing forthe children to see the great West, and that as Miss Prescott was toaccompany the party, there would be no risk of their running wild. 

But while the youngsters had all been so eager for the time to comefor starting on their long journey that they could hardly eat, muchless sleep, Miss Prescott had viewed with alarm the prospects aheadof her. In her mind the West was a vague jumble of rough cowboys, Indians, highwaymen and desperate characters in general. But therewas no help for it. In addition to feeling it was her duty toaccompany her young charges, her physician had also recommended herto seek the dry, rarefied air of the great Nevada plateau. 

"It will be the very thing for your lungs, my dear madame, " he hadsaid; "they are by no means as strong as I could wish. "

"Oh, but doctor, the Indians, the--the--" Miss Prescott had begun, when the physician cut her short. 

"The only Indians left in the West now are all busy working for WildWest shows, " he said, with a laugh; "and as for any other fanciedcause of alarm, I dare say you will find the Western men quite aschivalrous and courteous as their Eastern brethren. "

And so it happened that the dust-covered train was rolling acrossthe arid solitudes at the edge of the great alkali desert with ourparty of friends on board. All were looking forward to adventures, but how strange and unexpected some of the happenings that befellthem were to be not one of the party even dreamed. 

The only member of the adventurous little band not now accounted foris Peter Bell, the former recluse. Peter was forward in the smokingcar enjoying his old black pipe, which was his delight and solaceand Miss Prescott's particular abomination. Among Peter's otherpeculiarities, acquired in a long and solitary life, was a habit hehad of sometimes making, his remarks in verse. He entered the carjust as the conversation we have recorded was in progress. 

"Soon, my good friends, o'er the desert, so bold, we all shall beflying with excellent gold. "

A general laugh from the young folks greeted him, and Roy struck inwith:

"That's if we don't fall to the earth from the sky, and land up in asmash on the white alkali. "

The merriment that greeted this was cut short by the raucous voicesof the trainmen. 

"Blue Creek! Blue Creek!"

Instantly the liveliest bustle prevailed. Belongings of all sortswere hastily bundled together. So intent, in fact, was our party onits preparations for its plunge into the unknown that not one ofthem noticed two men who stood watching them intently from theopposite end of the car. 

"So we've run the old fox into the ground, " remarked one of them, atall, heavily built fellow with a crop of short, reddish hair thatbristled like the remnants of an old tooth brush. He was clean-shavenand had a weak, cruel mouth and a pair of narrow little eyes, throughwhich he could, however, shoot a penetrating glance when anythinginterested him. Both he and his companion, a sallow, black-hairedpersonage with a drooping pair of moustaches, were just then, seemingly, much engrossed. 

"Yes, some place off thar', " rejoined the black-haired man with awave of his hand toward the west--in which the sun, a ball of redfire, was now dropping, "some whar off thar, across that alkali, JimBell has his golden-egged goose. "

"Hush, not so loud, Sam; one of those kids is looking at us. "

"Pshaw, they hain't got sense to suspect nuthin', " was the scornfulreply. "Wonder if Buck Bellew will be hyar ter meet us. "

As he spoke the train wheels ceased to revolve and the cars came toa standstill in Blue Creek, a sun-bitten outpost of the "BigAlkali. "

CHAPTER II

AT THE NATIONAL HOUSE

Blue Creek was experiencing a spasm of excitement unusual to it. Asa general thing, the dwellers on the edge of the great alkaliwastes--once the bed of a mighty inland sea--were by far too muchoccupied in keeping reasonably cool, to betray even a passinginterest in anything; except the arrival of a train ofdesolate-looking mules bearing gold from the barren, melancholyhills that rimmed the far-reaching alkali solitudes. 

But the dust-whitened train, which twice a day puffed into BlueCreek and twice a day puffed joyfully out again, had, on thisparticular afternoon, set down a party which had caused unusualspeculation among the Blue Creekites. 

"Thar's Jim Bell, frum out the desert, an' an old gent who lookslike he might be some kin to Jim, and then thar's them likelylookin' lads an' those uncommon purty gals. Never know Jim hed afam'ly afore. Ef he hez he's kep it mighty quiet all these ya'rs. "

These remarks emanated from the throat of Cash Dallam, owner of theNational House, Blue Creek's leading, and likewise only, hotel. TheNational was a board structure, formerly painted--with someoriginality of taste--a bright orange hue, relieved with redtrimmings round doors, windows and eaves. But the sun had blisteredand the hot desert winds had cracked and peeled its originally gaudyhues, and it was now a melancholy monotone of dull, pallid yellow. Here and there the paint had vanished altogether, and the bleachedboards showed underneath. Like most of the other structures in BlueCreek--which boasted a general store, post office and Chineselaundry and restaurant combined the National House was coated with athin layer of gray alkali dust, the gift of the glittering desertbeyond its gates. 

Cash Dallam's companions on the porch, which faced the railroadstation and so was a favorite lounging place for the prominentcitizens of Blue Creek and the guests of the hostelry, seemed onlylanguidly interested. 

"Thet's a powerful pile of baggage they're toting round, " observed"Shavings" Magoon, who owed his nickname to the peculiar color andlength of his hair, which looked as if it might have been gatheredup bodily from the floor of a carpenter's shop and transferred tothe top of his wrinkled countenance, about which it hung like adubious aureole. 

"You say that the tall chap yonder is Jim, Bell?"

The question, asked with some appearance of interest, came from aslender, dark-haired man in a blue shirt and leather "chaps, " hisface overshadowed by a big sombrero, who up to this time had notspoken. He had been leaning against the front wall of the National, thoughtfully removing some more of its paint by scraping it with thebig rowelled Mexican spurs which he affected. These spurs, heavilymounted with Silver, together with a red sash he wore in the Mexicanstyle about his waist, rather marked him out from his fellows on theNational's porch. 

Cash Dallam looked round as if in astonishment at the voice. 

"Why hal-lo, stranger, " he said, "whar you bin hidin' all thesemoons? Yes, that's Jim Bell, sure enough. Wouldn't think he wuz amillionaire ter look at him, would yer?"

The other shook his head. 

"Can't most always sometimes tell, " he remarked humorously; "that'sa right pretty gal yonder, too. Any of you heard what Jim Bell'sdoing in Blue Creek?" The question came abruptly. 

"Don't rightly know, " was Cash's reply, "but I heard thet before hewent Fast Jim Bell worked his way further inter ther desert than anyman has ever bin. What he wuz arter I dunno, but it wouldn't belike Jim Bell ter risk his life fer muthin'. "

"Do you reckon it was gold?"

The slender young man's dark eyes kindled in the word he used therewas some potent fascination for him. 

"Donno 'bout gold, " said Cash, thoughtfully; "Thar's silver, yes, and platinum back younder. So ther Injuns say anyhow. But thar'smighty few white men hes ever got thet fur, an' if they did, theynever come back to tell. " He gazed out over the crystalline, quivering desert, burning whitely as a spangled Christmas card underthe scorching sun. In his day Cash had seen many set out across itwho never reappeared. 

"Pity thar hain't no way of gitting thar without having ter usestock. "

"Ortermobiles?" suggested a withered old man with the desert tan andwrinkles upon him. 

"Tired 'em, " struck in another of the same type. "No go. Sunk tother hubs in mud holes an' then if it wusn't thet ther wuz ther sandto shove through and they hed ter give it up. No, ther vehicle orther critter hain't invented that's goin' ter get away off thar backof beyond whar the gold lies--or whar they say it does, " he addedrather doubtfully. "When I was a kid back East my poor mother usedter tell me that gold lay at ther end of ther rainbow. I beganhuntin' it then and I've kep' it up ever since, an' will to therend, I reckon. "

"You say the vehicle isn't invented that will cross that stretch ofalkali?" asked the tall young man, with a jingle of the metalornaments hanging from the chased shank of his spurs. 

"Thet's what. No rig, er devil wagon, er critters neither. "

The reply was given with the emphasis of conviction. 

"How about airships?"

The remark was dropped carelessly almost, by the spur-wearer. 

"Airships! By ginger, thet's so!"

The pessimist spoke in a rather crestfallen tone. 

"Seems ter me I read in an Eastern paper a while back suthin' aboutJim Bell's bin at a place near New York and engaging a young chapter build him some aeroplanes. Thar was a good bit of mystery aboutit. Say, boys, I wonder ef that's what Jim Bell's in Blue Creekfur?"

"Thar's one thing sartin, " spoke up "Shavings" Magoon, "ef JimBell's got ther means ter git an aerial gold line he'll be safeenough frum them ornery road agents like ther fellers thet stuck upther Laredo stage only last week an' got away with the specie boxfrom Red River Falls. I reckon thar ain't no stage robbers withacroplanes yet a while. "

"Queer thing about that Laredo robbery, " put in Cash thoughtfully, "thar was several inter it, an' it seems thet they've all got claraway. "

"Good thing for them, eh?" said the stranger, jingling his spurornaments harder than ever. 

Cash sniffed. 

"Good thing. Wall, stranger, I'd hate ter tell you what 'ud be theleast of what 'ud happened to them, it would freeze your blood. "

"Not an unpleasant thing to have happen to day, " said the stranger, carelessly, and carefully flicking some gray dust from his "chaps"with his rawhide quirt, "so you think that Jim Bell means to startsome sort of an air line from whatever he has discovered in theinterior into this place?"

"Don't know nothing about it, " snapped Cash, rather impatiently;"you're a heap interested in Jim Bell, stranger. "

"Naturally. He's quite a famous man in his way. I suppose he isone of the greatest mining authorities in the West. "

But at this point Cash perceived that Mr. Bell's party had finishedseeing to the disposal of their piles of baggage and were headed forthe hotel. The operation had been a long one, as they bestowedparticular attention upon sundry wooden boxes of oblong shape whichmight have held almost anything. Whatever their contents might bethey were evidently held in some esteem by the Bell party. 

A few seconds after Cash had broken off the conversation soabruptly, he was greeting the new arrivals. The other porchloungers stood sheepishly at some distance, some of them uneasilytwisting their fingers. The presence of the young girls in theparty filled them with a bashful terror such as the had neverexperienced in the numerous adventures and perils through which mostof them had passed. 

"The young ladies are Miss Prescott and Miss Bancroft, " Mr. Bellsaid, introducing his companions, after the fashion of the Westerncountry, to the hotel proprietor; "this is Roy Prescott and hischum, Jimsy Bancroft, and this, " indicating the man whoseresemblance to himself had already been remarked upon, "this is mybrother, Mr. Peter Bell. "

"Glad ter meet yer, miss; glad ter meet yer all, I'm sure, "sputtered out Cash with one of his finest bows, and Cash wasreckoned to be "a right elegant chap" in that primitive society. 

CHAPTER III

VOICES IN THE NIGHT

After supper--a queer meal to their Eastern tastes--the young folkswere glad enough to retire to their rooms. 

"Oh, what a funny place!" cried Jess, as she and Peggy, carrying aglass lamp which reeked of kerosene, entered their chamber. Thewalls were of rough boards with no attempt at ornamentation, agorgeous checked crazy-quilt covered the bed--for though the daysare hot on the desert, the nights are quite sharp. The floor, likethe walls, was bare, and when the girls peered at themselves in thetiny mirror they gave little squeals of amused disgust. The heat ofthe sun, too, had drawn out the resinous qualities of the raw wood, and the room was impregnated with an aroma not unlike that of a pineforest under a hot sun. 

"I expect we'll see some much funnier places before we get backEast, " said Peggy decidedly, and beginning to unpack hersilver-fitted dressing-bag, which was the one luxury she had allowedherself. 

"I expect so, too; and I think it's jolly to rough it, " chimed inher chum; "but it's hard to get used to it all at once. Steppingright off a Pullman into this is rather a sharp contrast, you mustadmit. "

"It is, " agreed Peggy, heartily. She stepped to the window andgazed out on an uncovered porch outside. It was, in fact, the roofof the one below. On it flourished quite a little grove of scragglyplants of various kinds, which were carefully tended by Cash's wife. They were, perhaps, the only green things in Blue Creek. 

But Peggy had little eye for all this. Her lips parted in a quickgasp of admiration as she gazed upon the night spell of the desert. The dark sky was sprinkled with countless stars, large and luminousand beaming with a softer, stronger light than in the North. Abrooding silence hung over the town--the silence of the desert. Thehush was broken only by the droning notes of a song, accompanied ona guitar, which came from off in the distance on the outskirts ofthe little settlement. The music emphasized rather than broke thesilence. 

Jess came to Peggy's side, and upon her, too, descended the feelingof awe that the "Great Alkali" casts over all who encounter it forthe first time. 

"Peggy, " she said at length, "I'm--I'm the least bit frightened. "

Her chum felt a slight shiver run through the girl as she pressedagainst her. 

"Frightened, girlie? Frightened of what?"

"I don't just know. That's what makes it feel so bad. I guess it'sthe silence, the sense of all that loneliness out beyond there thatupsets me. It feels almost as if there were some living presenceoff over the alkali that meant us harm. "

"I think I know what the matter is, " said Peggy gently, "you'retired and overwrought. Come, let us get to bed, for Mr. Bell hasordered in early start in the morning. "

Just how long afterward it was the awakened Peggy had no means oftelling, but as she lay sleepless she felt a longing to look outover the light-shrouded desert once more. Arising she tiptoed tothe window, and drawing the shade without making more than themerest rustle of noise she looked out. As she did so Peggy almostuttered a startled exclamation, which, however, she instantlychecked. 

Three men had just emerged upon the balcony from an adjoiningwindow. They brought chairs with them and sat there smoking. Peggycould catch the rank, strong odor of the tobacco. 

"It's better out here and we can talk more quietly, " said one ofthem, as they sat down. "You say that Bell and his outfit startto-morrow?"

"That's what I overheard him say when I was listening to 'em talkingarter supper, " struck in another voice, "so I guess it's the earlytrail for us, too. "

"Reckon so, " came in a third speaker; "Jim Bell is going to travelfast. He's got the best horses and mules in this part of thecountry, and he won't spare 'em. "

"You mean the alkali won't, I guess, " put in the first speaker withan unpleasant laugh; "but he won't go far with ther stock. At thelast waterhole he'll leave 'em and go on by aeroplane. "

"You're crazy!"

"Never more sensible in my life. I--"

"Hush! Don't make such a racket. Fer all we know some of them maybe awake and hear us. Now the old Steer Wells trail--"

But here the speaker sank his voice so low that it was impossible tohear his further words. But Peggy, as she crept back to bed withher heart throbbing a little bit fast, felt vaguely that theconversation boded some ill to the mining man and his party of goldseekers. 

"I'm sure I recognized one of those voices, " she said to herself;"it was that of the tall, dark young man with the immense spurs andthat picturesque red sash, who was eyeing us so at supper. Jess andI thought he looked like a romantic brigand. What if he should turnout in real earnest to be a desperate character?"

Determining to speak to Jim Bell in the morning about theconversation she had overheard, Peggy dropped off into a deepslumber at last, but her dreams were disturbing ones. Now she wastraversing the Big Alkali, with its pungent dust in her nostrils andher feet crunching its crusty surface. She was lost, and would havecried out had she been able to open her lips. Then she was dying ofthirst. Her lips were parched and cracked and the sun beatpitilessly down. So the hours passed till the stars began to paleand a new day was at hand. Before sunrise the party had beencalled, and, filled with excitement, made the wooden walls of theNational Rouse resound with the hum of preparation. 

Now, though Peggy at midnight had fully determined to tell Mr. Bellall she had overheard, Peggy, in the bright, crisp early dawn, feltthat to do so would be absurd. After all, the men might merely havebeen chatting about the party, whose expedition was surely anadventurous and interesting one. It might make Mr. Bell think her avictim of girlish fancies if she went to him with the story, soPeggy decided to remain silent. Afterward she was sorry for this. 

As arrangements had been made with the ubiquitous Cash for burrosand ponies before the party left for the West, there was little orno delay in getting started. The girls uttered delightedexclamations as their little animals were led up to the hotel stepsby a long-legged Mexican who was to accompany the party to SteerWells, where the ponies were to be abandoned and a permanent campformed. From that point the dash into the alkali would be made byaeroplane. 

For Peggy there was a lively little "calico" animal which both girlspronounced "a darling. " But Jess was no less pleased with herlittle animal, a bright bay with a white star on its forehead. Forthe boys similar animals had been provided, while Miss Prescott'smount was a rather raw-boned gray of sedate appearance. In heryouth Miss Prescott had done a good deal of horseback riding, andthe manner in which she sat her mount showed that she had notforgotten her horsemanship. Mr. Bell and his brother bestroderather heavier animals than the rest of the party, while Juan, theguide, contented himself with a remarkably small burro. When in thesaddle his lanky legs stuck out on either side of his long-earedsteed and appeared to be sort of auxiliary propellers for thecreature. 

Six pack burros had been obtained, and on two of these the campequipment and utensils were carried. The remainder of the littleanimals carried the wooden cases in which the three monoplanes werepacked, and the boxes containing mining instruments and tools. Oneof these was painted red, and in it was carried a supply of "giant"powder--a kind of dynamite used in mining operations. 

"I shall keep my eye on that particular burro, " remarked Jimsy, "andif he ever runs away I shall gallop off in the opposite direction. "

But Mr. Bell explained that the explosive stuff was packed in such amanner that even the most violent shock would not set it off. 

"Still, we won't experiment, " declared Roy. 

Ten minutes after the cavalcade had drawn up in front of the hotel, attracting the attention of the entire population of Blue Creek, theparty was ready to set out on the first stage of their adventurous, journey. The girls looked very natty in corduroy skirts, neatriding boots, with plain linen waists and jaunty sombreros. Theboys, like Mr. Bell and his brother, were in khaki, and each carrieda fine rifle, the gift of Mr. Bell. Miss Prescott had at firstwished to resuscitate her old riding habit, but instead, before sheleft the East, the girls had persuaded her to have an up-to-date onemade of cool, greenish khaki. 

"You look like a modern Diana, " said Mr. Bell, with a gallant bow, which brought the color Miss Prescott's blooming cheeks. 

"Really, Mr. Bell, that is too bad of you, when you know I am tryingto grow old gracefully, " retorted Miss Prescott. 

"And now, " said Mr. Bell, running a watchful eye over the entireoutfit, "we are all ready to start. "

A cheer, which the girls took up, came ringing from the boys'throats. 

"Hooray!" they shouted. 

"Good luck!" cried Cash Dallam from his porch, and several in thecrowd caught up the cry. . 

Juan uttered a series of extraordinary whoops, and working his legslike the long limbs of a seventeen-year locust, he dashed to thehead of the procession. The next minute they were off, the packburros trotting behind in a sedate line. 

But just as they started an odd thing happened. Peggy experiencedthat peculiar feeling which sensitive persons feel when they arebeing watched. Glancing quickly round she encountered thepenetrating glance of the tall, dark young man who had formed one ofthe group on the porch the previous evening. He turned his eyesaway instantly as he perceived that his interested gaze had beenintercepted. As he did so, Peggy, despite the heat, felt a littleshiver run through her. 

But the emotion passed in a moment under the excitement of the dashforward. Before long, the rough habitations of Blue Creek lay farbehind them, and in front there lay, glittering under the blindingsun, the far-reaching expanse of the desert. Off to the southwesthovered what seemed to be a blue cloud on the horizon. But theyknew that in that direction lay the Black Rock hills, a desolatechain of low, barren mountains. 

As if by instinct they all drew rein as the solitudes closed inabout them. Rising in his stirrups Mr. Bell pointed into thedistance. "Yonder lies the end of the rainbow!" he exclaimed with atouch of rude poetry. 

"And back there are the wings to fetch forth the pot of gold, "laughed Jess, indicating the packing cases on the burros' backs. 

"Yes, the golden wings, " struck in Peggy, but there was a wistfulnote underlying her light tone. The spell of the desert, theunreclaimed and desolate, was upon her. 

CHAPTER IV

THE DESERT HAWKS

While our little party had been making its way so arduously acrossthe almost impenetrable waste of sand and alkali, another partyequipped with tough, desert-bred horses and a knowledge, so intimateas to be uncanny, of the secret ways and trails of the sun-bittenland, had made preparations for departure. 

It had been no fancy on Peggy's part when she imagined that sheheard the partial details of a plot against Mr. Bell on the nightduring which she had lain awake in the rough hotel of Blue Creek. Had the party possessed the power of seeing through partitions ofsolid timber, they would have been able to behold within that room ascene transpiring which must, inevitably, have filled them withuneasiness and even alarm. 

Red Bill Summers, one of the best known of the desert hawks, as thenefarious rascals who ply their highwayman's trade on the desert aresometimes called, had been one of the passengers on the train whosekeenly observing eyes had surveyed the little party as theydisembarked. His companion, the man with the drooping moustache waslikewise invested with a somewhat sinister reputation. But probablythe worst of the trio who foregathered that night at the NationalHouse was the romantic looking young man with the red sash and thesilver spurs whom the others called Buck Bellew. 

Mr. Bell and his expedition into the desert formed the topic oftheir conversation. It was evident, as they talked, that their maindesire was to trap or decoy him on his way, but as they discussedplans this intention gradually changed. 

"He's got kids with him, and young gals, too;" said thedark-mustached man, who seemed to be a little less ruffianly thanhis companions, "we don't want to do them no harm. "

"Not if we can help it, " rejoined Red Bill Summers, wrinkling hislow forehead, "but I ain't goin' ter let them stand in our way. "

"Of course not, " chimed in Buck Bellew, playing with the tassels onhis red sash, and jingling his silver-mounted spurs in a somewhatdandified fashion, "pretty girls, too, " he added. 

"Ther point's just this, " struck in Red Bill, apparently paying noattention to the other's conversation, "Jim Bell's got a desert minesome place out thar yonder. This young chap he had with him, what'shis name--"

"Prescott, " suggested Buck Bellew. 

"Ay, Prescott, that's it. Wal, this yer Prescott has invented somesort of an air ship, I read that in the papers. It's pretty clearto my mind that this air ship is going to be used in getting thegold out of the desert. That's plain enough, eh?"

"Yes, if your first idee is right. If he's got a paying mine inreality, " agreed Bellew. 

"Oh, I'm satisfied on that point. Jim Bell's too old a fox to gointer the desert onless he had stithin' worth going arter. "

"Well, what are we going to do about it?" asked the third man with agrin, "build an aeroplane, too. For myself I'm free to confess Iain't no sky pilot and don't never expect to be one. "

"This ain't a minstrel show, " scowled Red Bill. 

"Couldn't help laffin' though, " said the black-mustached one, "talkin' uv aviators reminded me of that story of the feller whowent ter see I lier doctor and git some medicine. Ther doc he says, 'I want you to take three drops in water very day. ' Ther young chapfainted. When he recovered they asked him what the matter was. Hesays, 'I'm an aviator. Three drops in water would finish me in aweek. '"

"That'll do from you, " grunted Red Bill, without the trace of asmile at this little anecdote, "let's git down to bizness. Thosefolks leave here to-morrow. They'll go early in the morning. "Wecan't follow them too close without excitin' suspicion. The problemis to keep track of them without they're knowing it. "

"Don't they take any servants or help?" asked Bellew after a pause. 

"Yes, they do. "

"You're certain?"

"I made it my business to find out. They are going to take a guide. Have him engaged, in fact. "

"Who is he?"

"Oh, a no good Mexican, a chap named Juan Baptista. "

"Juan Baptista!" exclaimed Bellew slapping his leg, "that's fine. Couldn't be better. "

"You know him?"

"So well that he'll have to do anything I say. "

"You can make him obey you then?"

"I know of a horse stealing case in which he was mixed up. If hewon't do what we tell him to I'll threaten him with exposure. "

"Good. He is sleeping in the corral with their ponies. Let's godown there now and rouse him out. Then we'll have part of thebusiness settled. "

"I'm agreeable. Come on. "

As noiselessly as possible the three plotters crept from the roomand tip-toed down the corridors. Following a long passage theypresently emerged into a star-lit stable-yard. In that part of thewest doors are not locked at night, so they could go out withoutbothering about a key. 

"Where's the corral?" whispered Buck as they came out of the hotel. 

"Right over there. See that haystack. The greaser's asleep thisside of it. Right under where that saddle is hanging on the fence. "

"All right. Come on. "

Led by Buck Bellew, whose spurs gave out an occasional jingle, theycrept across the yard. Presently they came upon a dark bundle lyinghuddled at the foot of the corral palings. 

Bellew stirred the inanimate bundle with his foot. The spurs gaveout a tinkling, musical jingle. The thing moved, stirred andfinally galvanized into life. It was finally revealed as the figureof a rather ill-favored Mexican, unusually tall for one of his racewho are, as a rule, squat and small. 

"Buenas tardes, Juan!" greeted Buck Bellew. 

"Buenas tardes, senors, " was the response. "But what for do youdisturb me in thees way. Know that to-morrow with the rising ofthe sun I have to awake and saddle the beasts, and fare forth intothe alkali with party of gringoes. "

"That's all right. That's what we came to talk to you about, Juan, "said Bellew. He bent low and pushed his face almost into theMexican's brown and sleepy countenance. 

"Do you know me!" he grated out. 

"Todos Santos! Caramba! It is the Senor Bellew!"

"Not so loud Juan. There may be somebody around who would recognizethat name. It is enough that you know me. "

"What do you wish with me, senor?"

The Mexican's voice shook. Evidently he feared this tall, good-looking, though dissolute, young Gringo. 

"You are to escort a party of gringos headed by a Senor Bell as faras Steer Wells, are you not?"

"Si senor. As I said to-morrow before the rising of the sun must Ibe awake. I must saddle and pack, and--"

"All right. Never mind that. I have a little bit of work for youto perform, too. If you do it well you will be rewarded. If not--"

"If not senor--?"

"If not--well don't let us dwell on unpleasant subjects. I want youto ride with these gringos. Listen to all that they say. Talk tothem and learn from them all that you can. "

"Of what?"

"Of their destination--of where they are going--what they are goingto do when they get there, and so on. You understand?"

"Perfectly senor. But they have paid me well and promised more. Senor Bell is a good man. He is--"

"Will you do what I tell you?"

The voice was sharp and imperious. 

"Senor, I would do much for you. But this--"

The Mexican spread his hands helplessly. 

"I cannot. It would be too bad a thing to do. "

"Very well. I'll call Cash Dallam. Tell him who you are and how itwas you who was concerned in the theft of those horses from DiabloRiver. You know what would happen to you then. You know--"

But the Mexican was down on his knees. His hands were raised inmute appeal. His teeth' chattered like the busy heels of a clogdancer. 

"No, no, senor. Santa Maria, no, no!" he begged. 

"It's entirely up to you, " was the cold response. "Now will you doas I say?"

"Yes, yes. A thousand times yes, senor. Anything you say--anything. "

"I thought so, " rejoined Bellew grimly. He turned with a look oftriumph to the two silent spectators of the scene, who noddedsmilingly. The Mexican's pitiful agitation seemed only to amusethose callous hearts. 

"You will travel, as I said, with these gringos, " pursued Bellew, "and glean all the information you can. Then, when you have foundout all about where they mean to go, and how long they mean to stayand so on, you will find an opportunity to drop out of theircompany. "

"Si senor, " quavered the man, "and then--"

"And then you will be met by us. We shall take care of you. "

"But Senor Bell and the senoritas?"

"We will take care of them, too, " was the grim response. 

It was not till the next day, at noon, that the three desert hawksleft the hotel, long after the departure of the Bell party. Theyrode slowly in the opposite direction to that in which the otherparty had gone, till they had gotten out of sight of the littletown. Then, taking advantage of every dip and rise in the surfaceof the plain, they retraced their steps and soon were riding on thetrack of the Bell outfit. 

"Whar wa'ar you all ther forenoon?" asked the black-mustached manof Red Bill as they rode along. 

"I was doing a bit of profitable business, " was the rejoinder. 

"Selling something?"

"No finding something out. Boys, Jim Bell's in our power. "

"In our power, " laughed the other, a laugh in which Bellew chimedin. "I reckon you don't know him yet. "

"Don't eh?" snarled Red Bill, stung into acrimonious retort. "Ireckon your brain works just a bit too quick, Buck. "

"Waal, ef you know so much, let's hear it?"

The red-sashed, silver-spurred Buck Bellew reined in closer to hiscompanions, rowelling his little active "paint" horse as he did so, till it jumped and curvetted. 

"It's just this, " said Red Bill Summers, unconsciously lowering histone although there was no one about to hear but his companions, afew, blasted-looking yuccas and, far overhead, a wheeling buzzard. 

"Jim Bell ain't never filed no location of ther mine with therguv'ment. "

If he had expected to produce a sensation, he must have feltjustified by the results of this announcement. Buck Bellewwhistled. The black-mustached man gave a low, long-drawn-outexclamation of:

"Wo-o-o-w!"

"Thought you'd sit up and take notice, " grinned their leader. "Sounds foolish-like, but it's true. I searched ther records, butit ain't on 'em. "

"Maybe he's filed a claim some place else, " suggested theblack-mustached man. 

"There you go, throwing cold water as usual, " snorted Buck Bellew. 

"Taint cold water. It's common, ornery hoss sense. That's what itis. Do you s'pose that any man 'ud be foolish enough to locate arich mine an' then not file a claim to it?"

"Heard of sich things been done, " commented Red Bill. "Maybe heain't over and above anxious fer anyone ter go in alongside of himafore he's had a chanct ter take up some more land. Maybe--"

"Waal, no use guessing at sich things, " rejoined Buck; "fer my partI guess Red is right. Jim Bell ain't had the hoss sense te file aclaim. And if he ain't--"

"That makes it all the easier fer us. Wonder ef thet feller Juan islearning much?"

Bill Summers was the speaker. 

"He's sharp as a steel trap, " volunteered Bellew, "when he wants tobe. "

"I guess arter that dressing down you giv' him las' night he'll wantto be, all right, " opined the black-mustached man. 

"Guess so, " grinned Buck; "if he ain't, it'll be the worse fer him. "

As he spoke they topped a little rise. Over in front of them, andon all sides--the desert, vast, illimitable, untrod of man, lay, adesolate expanse of nothingness. 

Far, far off could be seen a tiny blue cloud, resting on thehorizon--the desert range. 

"Thar's whar Jim Bell's mine is, I'll bet a hoss and saddle, " saidBellew reining in his horse and pointing to the distant azure mass. 

"Guess you'd win, " nodded Red Bill Summers, "and, " he added, hiskeen eyes narrowing to slits he gazed straight ahead, "and thar, Ireckon, is Jim Bell himself and his party. "

They followed the direction of his gaze. Far off across theglittering ocean of sand and alkali a yellowish cloud--almostvaporish, arose. It seemed to be a sort of water spout on land. Itdrifted lazily upward. The experienced desert hawks knew it forwhat it was. The dust cloud raised by a company of travelers. 

As their glances rested on it intently, not one of the three figurestoping the crest of the little rise, spoke. 

Their tired horses, too, stood absolutely still. Men and animalsmight have been petrified figures, carved out of the desolationabout them. There was a something impressive about them as theystood there in the midst of the desert glare. Silent, hawk-like, and intent. Their very poses seemed to convey a sense of menace--ofdanger. 

Suddenly they wheeled and turned, and their mounts, as the spursstruck their damp sides, broke into a lope. As they galloped, RedBill burst into a song. A lugubrious, melancholy thing, like mostof the songs of the plainsmen. 

"Bury me out on lone prair-eeOut where the snakes and the coyotes be;Drop not a tear on my sage brush graveOut on the lone prair-e-e-e-e-e!"

Then the others struck in, their ponies' hoofs making anaccompaniment to the gruesome words:

"The sands will shift in the desert wind;My bones will rot in the alkali kind;I'll be happier there than ever I beIn my grave, on the lone prair-e-e-e-e-e!"

It began to sound like a dirge, but still the leader of the hawks ofthe desert kept it up. He bellowed it out now in a harsh, shrillvoice. It rasped uncomfortably, like rusty iron grating on rustyiron. 

"Maybe upon the judgment day;When all sinners their debt must pay;They'll find me and bind me and judge poor me;All in my grave, on the lone prair-e-e-e-e-e-e!"

As the last words of this dismal chant rang out, an echo seemed tobe flung back at the singer from behind a neighboring ridge, uponwhich the lone yuccas stood upright, like, so many figures of formedbits of humanity. 

"Ye-e-e-e-e-e-e!"

It came in a long drawn out wail that fairly seemed to make thedesert ring with its gruesome echoes. All at once it was taken upfrom another point. Then another echoed it back. It seemed to beproceeding from a dozen quarters of the compass at once. 

Strong nerved as all three of the riders were, it appeared to make astrange impression on them. 

"What in the name of Kit Carson wuz that?" demanded Red Bill drawingrein. 

"Dunno. It sounded like someone havin' fun with that ther cheerfullittle song of yourn, " said the black-mustached man. 

"That's what it did. I'd like to find the varmint. I'd make somefun fer him. "

The man scowled savagely. His nerves had been unpleasantly shakenby the wild, unearthly cries. 

"It didn't sound human, " he said at length; "tell you what, let'sjes' look aroun' and see if we kin find any trace of who done it. "

Buck Bellew said nothing but he grinned to himself. Plainlysomething amused him hugely. 

"All right;" he said, "we'll look. "

They rode about among the desert dips and gullies for some time, butthey could discover no trace of any agency that could have producedthe weird cries. Both Red Bill and the black-mustached man wereplainly nonplussed. 

"This beats all, " opined Summers. "I don't even see a track anyplace. "

"Nor don't I, " rejoined his companion seriously. Both weresuperstitious men, a failing apparently not shared by Bellew, whostood regarding them, seated easily sideways in his saddle, with anamused look. 

"Hey Bellew, why don't you come an' look. You alters wuz a goodtracker?" demanded Red Bill looking up suddenly. 

"Not fer me, thanks, " was the easy response, "ef you want to huntspooks--"

"Who said it wuz a spook or any such pack uv nonsense?" glared backSummers. 

"I didn't, " declared the black-mustached man with greatpositiveness. 

"No more did I, " angrily sputtered Red Bill "thar ain't no suchthings nohow. "

"I dunno, " said the black-mustached man seriously. "I do recollec'hearing my old grandmother, back East, tell about a ghost what sheseen once. Want ter hear about it?"

No one replied, and taking silence for consent, he went on. 

"Grandmother was married to a decent old chap that was a teamster. He used to haul farm stuff to the city in the day and it was oftenpretty late afore he got out again. Well, on his way he had to passa cemetery, a buryin' ground you know, and I tell you he didn't likeit. It sort of got on his nerves to think that some night one ofthem dead folks lying there all so quiet might arise from thergraves. 

"It seems as how it allers haunted him ter think that some night ashe wuz drivin' by that ther buryin' ground--"

"Yer said that once before, " snapped Summers looking nervously abouthim, "get on with your story. "

"Well I am, ain't I?"

"Not fast enough. "

"Waal this is a ghost story and ghosts don't move fast. "

"Ho! ho!" laughed Bellew hollowly. 

"As I was sayin', grandpop didn't like the idee of some night seeinga tall form, all in white, come gliding down among them tombstones, and raising its hand cry to him in a solemn voice--"

"Wow. "

The shout came from Summers. He had suddenly felt something lighton his shoulder. Thence it had crawled to neck and laid clammy feetupon him. It was an immense dragon fly, but he had evidentlymistaken it for something else, to judge by the start andexclamation he had given. 

"Ain't gittin' on yer nerves, be I?" asked the black-mustached maninnocently. 

"No, no. Get on with your fool story for goodness sake. "

"You wuz a sayin' thet your fool grandpop wuz supposin' that efsomething said to him as he wuz-oh, go on and tell it yourself!"

"All right. Well then grandpop was jes' a thinkin' how awful it 'udbe ef anything like that ever did happen. He'd come home and talkto grandma'am at nights about it. I tell you his nerves waspowerful upsot. Suthin' like yours. "

"Like mine, you long-legged lizard!"

"I mean like yours might hev bin ef you'd bin in my grandpop'splace, Red. "

"Oh, all right. Perceed. What nex'?"

"Waal, one night jes what he'd bin a dreadin' did come ter pass. Hewas goin' by ther graveyard when he hearn the awfulest screech youever hearn--"

"Yow-e-ow-ee-ow-ow!"

Red Bill Summers started and turned pale. It was a repetition ofthe cry that had interrupted his song. Without wasting time onceremonies, he dug his spurs into his horse and dashed off. Thenarrator of the ghost story, as badly scared as his companion, followed him at post haste. Ther Bellew laughing heartily, turnedand followed them. But at a more leisurely speed. From time totime, as he pursued the flying forms, his big frame shook withmirth. Somebody once said that a man who gives a hearty laugh wasnot all bad. If this is true, there must have been considerablegood in Buck Bellew. 

After about a mile of riding he overtook the other two. 

"What's the hurry?" he inquired easily. 

"Nuthin', nuthin', " said Summers, still a bit shaky, "my pony scairtat suthin, I reckon, and jes' naturally dashed off. I had a hardjob te pull the cayuse in. "

"Same hyar, same hyar, " said the black-mustached man. 

"Rot!" laughed Bellew. "In my opinion, you're both a pair ofcowards. Don't pull your gun on me, Summers. You wouldn't fire atme, and you know it. "

Summers sullenly put up his gun. 

"Say, what's ther matter with you, Buck?" he asked grumpily. 

"What's the matter with you two, you mean? Why, you dashed off likea girl in a red sweater with a bull on her heels. "

"I tole you ther ponies ran away, " said Summers, shifting his littleeyes. Somehow he couldn't look Bellew in the face. 

"Yes, and I guess what made 'em run was suthin' like this--"

A quizzical look stole over Bellew's lean, handsome features. Allat once the air became filled with the same mysterious sounds thathad so alarmed Summers and the other man. 

"Ye-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-ow-w-w-w-w-w-e-e-eeeee!"

"Buck! You consarned old ventriloconquest!" shouted Summers, vastlyrelieved as Bellew burst into a roar of hearty laughter. 

"Forgot I used to be ventriloquist with a medicine show, eh?"chuckled Bellew, rolling about in his saddle. "Come in handysometimes, don't it?"

"Waal, next time yer goin' ter practice, jes' let us know inadvance. "

Summers' face held rather a sheepish grin as he spoke. Theblack-mustached man looked even more foolish. 

"Make a good signal, wouldn't it?" asked Bellew presently. 

"Yes. By the way, reckon you could imitate a coyote, Buck?"

"Easy. Listen!"

A perfect imitation of a coyote's yapping, hyena-like cry rang out. 

"Great. Maybe we can use that sometime. "

How soon that cry was to be used, and to what disastrous effect onour little party of adventurers, we shall see as our storyprogresses. But the next time Buck Bellew gave that thrilling, spine-tightening cry, was to be under far different circumstances, and with far different results--results fraught with greatimportance to our young adventurers. 

CHAPTER V

THE DIVINING RODS

"What wonderful clouds. They remind one of the fantastic palaces ofthe Arabian Nights!" exclaimed Miss Prescott. 

It was at the close of the noonday halt that she spoke, recliningwith the rest of the party under a canvas shelter, beneath whichlunch had been eaten. 

Off to the southwest the clouds she referred to had been, in fact, gathering for some time. Domed, terraced and pinnacled, they rosein gloomy grandeur on the far horizon. But Miss Prescott had notbeen the first to notice them. For some reason Mr. Bell, aftergazing at the vaporous masses for a few minutes, looked rathertroubled. He summoned Juan, who was feeding his beloved burro, andwaved his hand toward the clouds, the same time speaking rapidly inSpanish. 

"What is it? Is there a storm coming?" asked Jess, noting Mr. Bell's somewhat troubled look. 

"I do not know, and Juan says he is not certain yet either, " was theresponse. "Let us hope not, however. "

"I don't see why it should trouble us, " said Peggy. "We have goodtents and shelter, and as far as a good wetting is concerned Ishould think it would do this dried up place a lot of good. "

"That is not what was worrying me, " confessed Mr. Bell with a smile;"if it was to be an ordinary Eastern storm I should not mind anymore than you. But the desert has many moods--as many as--you willpardon me--a young lady. Even the storms of the Big Alkali are notlike others. They are dry storms. "

"This would be no place for an umbrella dealer then, " remarked Jimsyairily. 

"No, I am speaking seriously, " went on Mr. Bell; "frequently suchstorms do great damage through lightning, although, during theirprogress, not a drop of rain falls. The electrical display, however, is sometimes terrific. That is what I mean when I say 'adry storm. "'

"I can't bear lightning, " cried Jess; "I always go in the cellar athome when it comes. "

"Never mind, Jess, Roy and I will dig you one if the storm hits us, "put in her brother gallantly. 

"And one for me, too, please!" cried Miss Prescott; "I'm dreadfullyafraid of lightning. "

"Well, let us hope that we shall none of us have any cause foralarm, " put in Peter Bell, the former hermit. "When I lived mysolitary life I often used to wander out in the height of a storm. It was beautiful to watch the lightning ripping and tearing acrossthe sky. The lightning and the thunder did not scare me a bit. But--. "

"You'd soon have changed your mind if by lightning you'd been hit, "struck in Jimsy before the old man could complete his verse. A goodnatured laugh, in which Peter Bell joined as heartily as the others, followed this bit of improvisation. 

"Well, let us be pressing on, " said Mr. Bell presently; "we are notcarrying any too heavy a water supply, and I am anxious to replenishit by nightfall. By the way, that means a new experience for youyoungsters. You will get your first taste of alkali water. "

"But how are you going to get water in this desert?" exclaimed Roywonderingly. 

"You will see before many hours, " was the reply with which they hadto be content. 

All that afternoon they pressed on without anything of interestoccurring. The distant clouds grew more imposing and blacker inhue, but they seemed to draw no closer. The heat, however, wasoppressive, and the glare of the desert hurt Peggy's eyes. 

"If they didn't look so hideous, I wish I'd brought along those oldsmoked glasses I wore on the beach at Atlantic City, " she thoughtmore than once. 

Sundown found the party skirting along the foot of rough, brokenhills clothed with a scanty vegetation. Juan nodded approvingly andat once suggested making the camp there. 

"We'll see if there is any water first, " said Mr. Bell. 

"It looks as if you need not take the trouble, " declared Roy, "it'sas dry as a week-old crust. "

"Not quite so fast, young man, " laughed Mr. Bell, "appearances areoften deceitful, especially on the desert. "

He dismounted, and reaching into one of the packs drew forth aslender forked stick. Then, while they all gazed in a puzzledsilence at his actions, he passed it hither and thither over the dryfloor of the desert. 

"Oh, I know what it is now!" cried Peggy suddenly. "It's a diviningrod!"

"A divining rod?" echoed Roy. "What's that?"

"Oh, look!" cried Jess, before Peggy could answer; "it's moving!"

The slender switch held by Mr. Bell was certainly behaving in a veryodd manner. It could be seen to bend and sway and hop and skipabout as if it had been suddenly endued with life. Mr. Bell, whowas by now at some distance from the party, looked up with asatisfied expression. 

"Get a shovel and dig here!" he ordered Juan. But the Mexican hadfallen into a deep slumber from which it took not a little effort toawaken him. When he was finally roused and made to understand whatwas required of him, he set to work with a will, however, and madethe dirt fly. 

The boys pitched in, too, and before long quite a deep hole had beenexcavated. The girls, peeping cautiously over its edge, gave adelighted cry. Actual water was beginning to drain into it from theside. True, it was not of the color or temperature they had beenused to associating with the fluid, but still the sight of it waswelcome enough to the travel-stained wayfarers. 

"You can come out now, boys, and leave the hole to fill up, which itwill soon do, " declared Mr. Bell. 

The interval of waiting for the water to flow in a goodly quantitywas spent in adjusting the girls' tent, and in setting the camp torights generally. A sort of blue-colored bunch grass grew inconsiderable quantities about the water hole, and this the burrosseemed to find quite palatable. The ponies and horses, however, would not touch it, and had to be regaled on the pressed hay andgrain which were carried for the purpose. 

In the midst of all this there came a sudden sharp cry from thewater hole, followed by a loud splash. 

"It's old Mr. Bell! He's fallen into the water hole!" shrilledPeggy. 

"Head over heels, too. Hurry and we'll get him out, " cried theboys. 

Roy seized up a lariat, and followed by the others started for thehole. It was as they had guessed. Venturing too close to the brinkof the excavation, old Mr. Bell had slipped, and the former hermitwas floundering about like a grampus in the water when his rescuersappeared. Luckily, it was not deep, and they soon had him out of itand on his feet. The old man, with great good nature, declared thathe had rather enjoyed his involuntary bath than otherwise. He wasso mud-stained and drenched, however, that it was necessary for himto make an immediate change of clothes. When he emerged from histent with dry apparel, the aged recluse felt moved to compose averse, which he did as follows:

"Within the mud hole's watery depths, A grave I almost met, But luckily I was pulled out Alive, but very wet. "

"Well, Peter, " laughed his brother, "you certainly are a poeticphilosopher. But now, if you are quite finished with the waterhole, we will draw some for our own use, and then Juan can let thestock have a drink. "

As the first bucket for camp use was drawn, Peggy hastened up with acup and extended it. 

"Oh, do let me have a drink, " she exclaimed; "I'm dying with thirstand can't wait for tea. "

"Same here, " cried Jess, eagerly. 

Mr. Bell smiled and eyed them quizzically. 

"I wouldn't advise you young ladies to try it till it has beenboiled, " he said, "but of course if you insist--"

"We do, " cried both girls. 

"Fill the cups, Juan, " ordered Mr. Bell. 

The guide did so, and Peggy and Jess eagerly raised the receptacles. But hardly had they taken a swallow before they hurriedly ceaseddrinking. 

"Oh, what awful stuff!" sputtered Peggy, while Jess simply gasped. 

"Bah! It tastes like aged eggs added Roy, who had also taken aswallow. "Is it poisonous?"

"Not a bit of it, " laughed Mr. Bell; "it is simply alkali water, andwhen you have drunk as much of it as I have you'll be used to it andnot mind it. But I must admit that on first introduction it israther trying. It is better when it is boiled, though. It seems tolose that acrid flavor. "

And so it proved; and Miss Prescott declared that she had neverenjoyed a cup of tea so much as the one she drank that evening atsupper on the desert. As dusk fell, Juan produced a battered guitarfrom a case which was strapped to the back of his saddle, andseating himself cross-legged in the midst of a semi-circle ofenthusiastic listeners he banged out a lot of Spanish airs. 

Then Jimsy danced a jig with incomparable agility and Roy did sometricks with cards and handkerchiefs that were declared superior toanything heretofore seen. But the little entertainment was to cometo an abrupt conclusion. So engrossed had they been in its progressthat they had not noticed that the sky had clouded over, and that ithad suddenly grown insufferably oppressive. 

All at once a red glare enveloped the camp. It lasted only for thefraction of a second, but in its brief existence it displayed somevery white and alarmed faces. 

The electric storm that Mr. Bell had dreaded was upon them. 

CHAPTER VI

A DRY STORM

In describing what immediately followed, Peggy has always declaredthat her sole impression was of continuous "flash and crash. "

The first red glare, as a jagged streak of lightning tore across thesky, was followed by an earsplitting thunder roll. Almost instantlythe entire heavens became alive with wriggling serpents of light. The criss-cross work of the bolts ranged in hue from a vivideye-burning blue to an angry red. And all the time the thunderroared and crashed in one unceasing pandemonium. A smell ofbrimstone and sulphur filled the air. The tethered stock whinniedand plunged about in mad terror. 

"Juan, look to the stock!" shouted Mr. Bell above the turmoil. ButJuan, at the first crash, had flung himself face downward on thesand and lay there trembling and praying. 

As there seemed no possibility of getting him up, the boys and Mr. Bell set to work on the by no means easy task of securing theterrified animals more carefully. 

In the meantime, the girls, in Miss Prescott's tent, were having ahard time to convince that lady that the end of the universe was notat hand. 

"Oh, dear, why did we ever come out here!" cried the terrifiedwoman; and then the next minute:

"Just hark at that! We shall all be killed! I know it! Oh, thisis terrible!"

"It will soon be over, aunt, dear, " exclaimed Peggy bravely, thoughher own head ached and her eyes burned cruelly from the glare anduproar. 

"Yes, dear Miss Prescott, " chimed in Jess; "it can't last; it--"

There was a sudden blinding glare, followed by a crash that seemedas if the skies must have been rent open. With it mingled a loudscream from Miss Prescott and cries and shouts from outside thetent. 

"Something in the camp has been struck!" exclaimed Peggy rushing tothe tent door. 

"It's Juan's burro!" cried Jess, who had followed her; "look at thepoor thing, off over there. "

In the radiance of the electric display they could see quite plainlythe still form of the little animal lying outstretched on theground. Juan heard the girl's cry, and for the first time since thestorm had begun he moved. Directly he perceived the motionless formof his mount he appeared to lose all his terror of the storm, andsprinted off toward it on his long legs. As he ran he called aloudon all the saints to look down upon his miserable fate. 

But as he reached the side of his long-eared companion, thecreature, which had only been stunned by the bolt, suddenly sprangto its feet and, no doubt crazed by fear, began striking out withits hind hoofs. As ill luck would have it, poor Juan came withindirect range of the first kick, and was sent flying backward by itsforce. 

Behind him lay the water hole, and before he could stop the cowardlyguide found himself over the brink and struggling in the muddywater. His cries for help were piercing, but as Mr. Bell and theboys were busy, and as they knew that the Mexican was in no actualperil, they left him there for a time. 

In the meantime, the first terrific violence of the storm hadsubsided, and before long it passed. As it growled and muttered offin the distance, lighting up the desert with an occasional lividglare, Juan came scrambling out of the mud-hole. He did not say aword, but went straight up to his burro. He saddled it in silence, strapped his old guitar on its back and, swinging himself into thesaddle, dashed off across the alkali, his long legs working likependulums on either side of the little creature. It actually seemedas if he were propelling instead of riding it. 

 The boys wanted to know if they should set off in pursuit of theirerrant guide, but Mr. Bell said that it would be the best thing tolet him go if he wished. 

"He was more of a hindrance than a help, " he declared, "and he andhis burro between them ate far more than their share of food. "

"But won't the poor man become lost or starve?" asked Miss Prescott, who, now that her alarm had passed with the storm, had joined thegroup. 

"Not much danger of that, " laughed Mr. Bell, "a fellow of Juan'stype can subsist on next to nothing if he has to, and his burro isas tough as he is, I suspect. "

"At any rate, he must have thought so when he got that kick, "laughed Peggy. 

"It reminded me of a verse I once heard, " put in the former hermit. 

And then, without waiting for anyone to ask him to repeat the linesin question, he struck up:

"As a rule, never foolWith a buzz saw or a mule. "

"I expect that's excellent advice, " laughed the old man's brother, "but now, ladies and gentlemen, as the excitement of the night seemsto be over, I think we had better retire. Remember, an early startto-morrow, and if all goes well we ought to be at Steer Wells bynightfall. "

"If we steer well, " muttered Jimsy, not daring to perpetrate the punin a louder tone of voice. 

Fifteen minutes later, silence entrenched the camp, which seemedlike a tiny island of humanity in the vast silence stretched roundabout. As they slumbered, the girls, with their silver-mountedrevolvers--gifts from Mr. Bell--under their pillows, the clouds ofthe dry storm rolled away altogether, and the effulgent moon of theNevada solitudes arose. 

Her rays silvered the desolate range of barren hills and threw intosharp relief the black shadows which marked the deep gulches, cutting the otherwise smoothly rounded surfaces of the strangeformation. 

Suddenly, from one of the gulches, the figure of a man on horsebackemerged and stood, motionless as a statue, bathed in moonlight on anelevation directly overlooking the camp. For perhaps five minutesthe horseman remained thus, silent as his surroundings. Butsuddenly a shrill whinny rang out from one of the horses belongingto our party, who had seen the strange animal. 

Instantly the figure turned and wheeled, and when Mr. Bell, ever onthe alert, emerged from his tent to ascertain what the noise mightportend, nothing was to be seen. 

"That's odd, " muttered the mining man, "horses don't usually whinnyin the night except to others of their kind who may suddenly appear. I wonder--but, pshaw!" he broke off; "the thing's impossible. Evenif our mission were known nobody would dare to molest us. 

"But just the same, " he continued, as, after a careful scrutiny, hereturned to the tent he shared with his brother, "but just the sameI'd like to know just why that animal whinnied. "

Whoever the watcher of the camp had been, he did not reappear thatnight, but while old Mr. Bell prepared breakfast, and the girls werewhat the boys called "fixing up, " the mining man summoned the boysto him and observed that he wished them to take a little stroll tosee if better grass for the stock could not be found in the hills. This was so obviously an excuse to get them off for a quiet talkthat the lads exchanged glances of inquiry. They said nothing, however, but followed Mr. Bell as he struck off toward the barrenrange. 

As soon as they were out of earshot of the camp the mining maninformed them of his suspicions and of what he had heard the nightbefore. 

"On thinking it over I am more than ever convinced that somebodymust have been hovering about the camp last night, " he declared, "but it is no use alarming the others unnecessarily, and, after all, I may be mistaken. In any event, from now on, we will postourselves on sentry duty at night so as not to be taken by surprisein the event of any malefactors attacking us. "

"Then you really think, sir, that somebody may have wind of theobject of our journey and molest us?" inquired Roy soberly. 

"I don't know; but it is always best to be on the safe side, " wasthe rejoinder; "the towns on the edge of the desert are full of badcharacters and it is possible that in some way the reason of ourexpedition has leaked out. "

By this time they had walked as far as the mouth of one of the barecanyons that split the range of low, barren hills. Roy, whose eyeshad been thoughtfully fixed on the ground, suddenly gave a sharpexclamation. 

"Look here, Mr. Bell, " he exclaimed, pointing downward, "what do youmake of that?"

He indicated the imprints of a horse's hoofs on the dry ground. 

"You have sharp eyes, my boy, " was the reply; "those hoof-prints arenot more than a few hot old, and certainly clinch my idea thatsomeone on horseback was in the vicinity of the camp last night. "

Jimsy looked rather grave at this. Roy, too, had a troubled note inhis voice as he inquired:

"What do you make of it all, Mr. Bell?"

"Too early to say yet, my boy, " said the mining man, who had beenstudying the hoof-prints, "but I can tell you this, that only oneman was here last night. "

"We have nothing to fear from one man, " exclaimed Jimsy. 

"I know that, " was Mr. Bell's response, "but this lone visitor oflast night may have been only the scout or forerunner of the others, whoever they may be. "

"That's so, " agreed Roy, "at any rate he must have had some strongobject in spying on us. "

 Nobody would come out into this desolate place without an aim ofsome sort. "

"No question but that you are right there, " agreed Mr. Bell, whoseface was grave, "I have half a mind to turn back and not bring theladies further into what may prove to be a serious situation. "

"So far as Peggy is concerned you'd have a hard time trying to gether to turn back now, " declared Roy; "her mind is bent upon helpingto get the air line from the mine into working order, and I guessJess feels the same way about it. "

"It would be a sad blow to them to have to go back now, " agreedJimsy; "suppose, Mr. Bell, we wait and make our suspicions more of acertainty before we decide upon anything. "

"Perhaps that would be the best course, " agreed the lad's elder, "but I must confess I feel sorely troubled. It is agreed, is itnot, that not a word of our suspicions are to be breathed to theladies?"

"Oh, of course, " agreed Roy; "after all, " he added cheerfully, "theman who left those tracks may have been a prospector or a deserttraveler of some kind, and have had no sinister motives. "

"I am inclined to think that, too, " said Mr. Bell, after a pause;"after all, nobody could have any object in attacking us at such atime. "

CHAPTER VII

PROFESSOR "WANDERING WILLIAM"

The ponies, and the larger steeds ridden by the elders of the party, were pushed forward at a rapid gait all the morning. As had beenexplained by Mr. Bell, it was necessary for them to reach SteerWells by sundown, as they could not hope to encounter any more waterholes till they gained that point. 

In the meantime, water was carried by means of an ingeniousarrangement of Mr. Bell's. This was nothing more or less than twolarge bags of water-proof fabric, which could be filled and thenflung on the pack burros' backs. In this way enough was carried foreach of the animals to have a scanty supply, although there was nonetoo much left over. That day's luncheon halt was made near a stony, arid canyon in the barren hills, along whose bases they were stilltraveling. 

While the others set about getting a meal, Peggy and Jess linkedarms and wandered off a short distance from the camp, bent onexploring. All at once Peggy gave a sudden, sharp little cry. 

"Oh, Jess, look! What a funny little creature!"

"Ugh, what a horrid looking thing! What can it be?" exclaimedJimsy's sister. 

"It's--it's like a large spider!" cried Peggy suddenly, "and whathorrid hairy legs it has, and--oh, Jess--it's going to attack us!"

"I do believe it is o-o-o-h!"

The cry was a long drawn out one of shrill alarm as the "largespider, " as Peggy had termed it, tucked its legs under its fat, hairy body and made a deliberate spring at the two girls. Onlytheir agility in leaping backward saved them from being landed uponby it. But far from being dismayed apparently, the creature wasmerely enraged by this failure. It was gathering itself for anotherspring when:

Crack!

There was a puff of smoke and a vicious report from Peggy's littlerevolver, and the next instant the thing that had so alarmed the twoyoung girls lay still. At the same moment the rest of the party, frightened by the sound of the sudden shot, came running up. 

"A tarantula!" cried Mr. Bell, "and one of the biggest I have everseen. It is fortunate for you, young ladies, that he did not biteyou or there might have been a different tale to tell. Which of youshot it?"

"Oh, Peggy of course, " cheerfully admitted Jess; "I can't pull thetrigger yet without shutting my eyes. "

"Hurrah for Peggy Prescott, America's premier girl rifle andrevolver shot!" shouted Jimsy in blatant imitation of a show man. 

"What a pair of fangs!" cried Roy, who had picked up the deadtarantula and was examining it carefully. 

The girls could not repress a shudder as they looked at the deadgiant spider, lying with its great legs outstretched, on Roy's hand. 

"The Mexicans have a superstition that even if one does not die fromthe effects of their bites that the tarantula can inoculate a personwith dancing poison, " said Mr. Bell. 

"Dancing poison?" they all cried in an astonished chorus. 

"Yes, " explained the mining man, "that is to say, that its poisonwill cause a sort of St. Vitus's dance. "

"Good gracious! How unpleasant!" cried Jess. "I'm awfully fond ofdancing, but I wouldn't care to come by my fun that way. "

"Better than being bitten by the kissing bug anyhow, " teased Roymischievously. 

The episode of the tarantula furnished plenty of conversationthrough the luncheon hour, and caused Miss Prescott many shudders. The poor lady was beginning to think that more dangers lurked in thedesert than on any of her most dreaded street crossings in New York. 

But little time was spent over the midday meal, and then the final"leg" of their dash across the alkali to Steer Wells began. The sunwas low, bathing the desert in a crimson glow, when Mr. Bell, whowas riding in advance, gave a sudden shout and pointed ahead to apatch of forlorn looking trees in the distance. 

"Steer Wells, " he announced. 

The boys gave a cheer and plunged forward, with Peggy and Jess closebehind. But the others advanced more sedately. 

But as they drew closer to the clump of trees standing so oddlyisolated amid the waste of alkali, they noted with surprise thatthey were not to be the only persons to share the hospitality of theoasis. From amid the foliage a column of blue smoke was rising, betokening the presence of other wayfarers. Instantly speculationbecame rife among the young folks. Who could be the sharers oftheir excursion into the untraveled wastes? They were soon todiscover. 

A strange figure stepped from the trees as the ponies, in a cloud ofdust, dashed up. It was that of a tall, angular man with a pair ofiron-rimmed spectacles perched on a protuberant nose. He was cleanshaven, except for a goatee, and his wrinkled skin was the color ofold leather. Long locks of gray hair hung lankly almost to hisnarrow, sloping shoulders. Above these straggly wisps was perchedjauntily a big sombrero of regulation plainsman type. But thestrangest feature of this strange personage lay in the remainder ofhis attire, which consisted of a long black frock coat hangingbaggily to his knees and a pair of trousers of the largest and mostaggressive check pattern imaginable. His feet were encased inpatent leather boots, over which were gaiters of a brilliant yellow. 

Under the trees could now be seen a small wagon painted a brightred, which bore upon its sides the inscription:

 "Professor Wandering William, Indian Herb Remedies. They make thedesert of life to bloom like the Rose Gardens of Mount Hybla. 50cents per bottle or half a dozen for $2. 50. "

The professor's angular mule team were browsing on the scanty grassthat grew within the circle of trees, while above a fire of chipsand twigs there hung an iron pot, which evidently contained theprofessor's supper. As for the professor himself, he clearly stoodrevealed in the person of the strange character who now, taking offhis sombrero, waved it three times around his head in solemn rhythm, and then, raising a high pitched voice, shouted:

"Welcome! Thrice welcome to this fertile spot amid the stonydesert. Like the Great Indian Herb Remedy, it blooms like the RoseGardens of Hybla. Ahem!"

The conclusion of this speech was a dry cough, after which theprofessor solemnly readjusted his hat, and coming forward, said inquite ordinary tones:

"Howdy-do. "

By this time the remainder of the party had galloped up, and arrivedjust as the young folks, hardly knowing what to say, had responded"howdy-do" likewise. 

"I hardly expected to find anyone else here, " said Mr. Bell, andthen by way of introduction, he rattled off their names, theprofessor bowing low as each was presented. 

"And now, " said he, "allow me to present myself, Professor WanderingWilliam, proprietor and originator of the Great Indian HerbMedicine, good alike for man or beast, child or adult. Insist onthe original and only. Allow me, " and the speaker suddenly whiskedround with unexpected agility and darting toward his wagon openedthe back of the vehicle and presently reappeared with several smallbottles. He handed one to each of the new arrivals. 

"Samples!" he explained, "and free as the birds of the air. If youlike the samples, make a purchase. Money back if not exactly asrepresented. "

With as grave faces as they could assume, they all thanked thisqueer character, and then Mr. Bell asked. 

"May I inquire what you are doing in the desert, Professor. Ishould think you would find this part of the country a mostunprofitable field. "

"My dear sir, " rejoined the professor, "twice a year I make apilgrimage into the desert to gather the ingredients of The Remedy. You behold me now almost at the conclusion of my labors. In a fewdays I shall return to the haunts of civilization and gladden thehearts of mankind by disbursing The Remedy on my terms as quoted onthe wagon yonder. "

The professor lent a hand in unsaddling and unpacking the stock ofthe adventurers, and proved to be of great assistance in severalways. Evidently he was an experienced plainsman and he suggestedmany ways in which their equipment might be lightened and adjusted. His odd manner of talking only possessed him at intervals, and atother times he seemed to converse like any rational being. 

This put a queer idea into Peggy's head. 

"I wonder if he's acting a part?" she thought to herself. But thenext minute the professor's exaggerated gestures and tones convincedher to the contrary. Although his manner was as outlandish as hischoice of clothes, still there was a certain something about itwhich negatived the idea of its being assumed, unless the professorwas a most consummate actor. He informed the party that he had setout to cut across the desert from California and had had severalnarrow escapes from death by reason of lack of water. 

I le appeared much interested when Mr. Bell in formed him that theparty had started out from Blue Creek, adding--as he deemed wisest--that they were a party of tenderfeet anxious to explore the desertat first hand. 

"So you were in Blue Creek recently, eh?" he said, with an entirelack of his exaggerated manner, but in crisp tones that fairlysnapped; "didn't hear anything there of Red Bill Summers, did you?"

With a half smile Mr. Bell replied that they had not had thepleasure of the gentleman's acquaintance. 

"Don't know about the pleasure part of it, " shot out the professor, "he's the most desperate crook this side of Pikes Peak. I'd give agood deal for a look at him myself. I--I have a professionalinterest in him, " he added, with a queer smile which set his eyes tosnapping and crackling. 

"A medical interest, I suppose?" inquired Mr. Bell, "you think he'dmake an interesting study?"

"Most interesting, " was the reply in quiet, thoughtful tones. 

But the next instant the professor was back at his old pompous, high-flown verbal gymnastics, and after supper he entertained themtill bedtime with tales of his experiences, to which both boys andgirls listened with wide-eyed astonishment. 

"The oddest character I have ever encountered, " declared Mr. Bell, as the professor, after bowing low to the ladies and apostrophizingthe male portion of his audience, retired to his red wagon, withinwhich he slept. 

They all agreed to this, but Peggy said rather timidly:

"Somehow I don't think he's quite as odd as we think him. "

"What do you mean, my dear?" asked Mr. Bell. 

"Why, when he spoke about that Red Billy whatever his name was, didyou see how different he looked? Younger somehow, and--and oh, quite different. I don't know just how, but he wasn't the same atall. "

"Oh, Peggy's trying to work up a romantic mystery about theprofessor, " teased Jess; "maybe he's a wandering British lord indisguise or the interesting but wayward son of a millionaire with ahobby for socialism. "

The others burst into laughter at Jess's raillery, but Miss Prescottgently said:

"There is a great deal in womanly intuition, my dear, and for mypart I had the same feeling as you. I mean that that man was notjust what he appeared to be, namely, a chattering, ignorant quack. "

"Well, as we may have him for a neighbor for some days we shall havea chance to watch him closely, " said Mr. Bell. 

But in this the leader of the party of adventurers turned out to bewrong, for when they awoke the next morning the grove did notcontain the professor or his red wagon. Only the ashes of his firewere there to tell of his sojourn. But on one of the trees theyfound pinned a note. 

"Sorry to leave so abruptly, but circumstances compelled. Perhapswe shall meet again. Who knows!"

And that, for many days, was to be the last they saw of theprofessor. When they re-encountered him--but of the surprisingcircumstances under which this was to take place we shall learnlater. 

CHAPTER VIII

A DESERT FIGHT

There was too much before them for the party to spend much time inspeculation concerning the professor's sudden disappearance. Immediately after breakfast Mr. Bell called the boys aside and said:

"How long will it take to get an aeroplane ready?"

The question came briskly, as did all Mr. Bell's speeches. 

"I think I can promise to have a machine ready for flight by noon, "was Roy's rejoinder after a brief interval of thought. 

"Good! In that case we will waste no time in getting to work. I amanxious to reach the mine and stake it out properly for claim filingpurposes. The less delay the better. "

It was news to both boys that the definite legal claim to hisdiscovery had not yet been made by Mr. Bell. 

"Well, at any rate you are not likely to be bothered by claimjumpers away off here, " commented Roy. 

"No, I hardly think so, " was the response, "but in these matters onecannot be too careful. Since the news spread that I have struck itrich there are men capable of enduring any hardship if there existsa possibility of wresting it from me. "

"I should have thought that in order to be on the safe side youwould have filed your claim before you came East, " put in Peggy, whohad joined the little group of consultants. 

"I would have done so were it not for the fact that to have filed myclaim and given the location would have set on my track the entire, restless gold-seeking horde that hangs about desert towns, " said Mr. Bell, with some warmth. "It is an outrageous thing, butnevertheless a fact, that the moment one files a claim it becomespublic property. In my opinion the government should protect thelocator of a gold find. "

"But would that be quite fair to the others, " said Peggy softly. "Shouldn't everybody have an opportunity to develop naturalresources?"

Mr. Bell gazed at her admiringly. 

"You are right, my dear, and I'm a selfish old bear, " he said, "butjust the same, not all gold-seekers make desirable neighbors. Manydesperate men are among them. "

Peggy's mind wandered back to that midnight conversation she hadoverheard on the porch of the National House. But the same dread ofridicule that she had experienced then still held her, and sherefrained from mentioning it. 

By noon, with such good will did they work, that not only was one ofthe monoplanes erected and ready for flight, but a second waspartially assembled, and only required the finishing touches to bein readiness for its aerial dash. While the boys, with the girlseagerly helping them, worked on the flying machine, Mr. Bellcarefully studied a map he had made of the mine's location, andtested his compass. This done he--as sailors say--"laid out acourse" for himself. From the springs the mine lay about duesoutheast and some hundred and twenty miles away. 

In case of accidents the mining man traced carefully a second map, which was to be left behind in the camp so as to be constantlyavailable in case anything happened to the first one, it had beendecided that Jimsy, who by this time had become quite a skillfulaviator, was to accompany Mr. Bell in the preliminary flight. 

Roy and Mr. Peter Bell were to be left in charge of the camp, and inthe event of the first aeroplane not returning that night thesecond, one was to be dispatched in search of it. 

As an old plainsman, Mr. Bell had not laid his plans without takinginto consideration the possibility of accident to the aeroplane, andnone realized better than he did what serious consequences such anaccident might have. 

In the chassis of the machine with the travelers were placed a stockof canned goods, a pick and shovel and several hundred feet of finebut tough rope. A supply of water in stone jars and an extra stockof gasoline were also taken along. At the conclusion of the noonmeal the motor was started and found to be working perfectly. Nothing then remained to be done but to bid hasty "au revoirs" andwing off across the barren wastes. 

"If all goes well we may be back to-night, " said Mr. Bell as heslipped into the seat set tandem-wise behind Jimsy. 

"And if not?" inquired Roy. 

"In that case, " and Mr. Bell's voice held a grave note, "in thatcase you will take the other monoplane and start out to look forus. "

The roar of the motor as Jimsy started it drowned further words. Blue smoke and livid flames burst from the exhausts. The structureof the flying machine shook and quivered under the force of theexplosions. The next instant the first aeroplane to invade the BigAlkali scudded off across the level floor of the desert, and aftersome five hundred feet of land travel soared upward. In fifteenminutes it was a fast diminishing speck against the burnished blueof the Nevada sky. 

There was some feeling of loneliness in the hearts of those leftbehind as they turned back toward the camp under the stragglywillows. But this was speedily dissipated by that sovereign tonicfor such feelings-namely, work. Much was to be done on theremaining monoplane, and with the exception of brief intervals of"fooling" the young people spent the rest of the day on finishingits equipment. Sunset found the machine ready for flight and thegirl aviators and Roy very ready indeed for the supper to whichPeter Bell presently summoned them by loud and insistent beating ona tin pan. 

You may be sure that as the sun dipped lower, the sky toward thesouthwest had been frequently swept by expectant eyes, but supperwas served and eaten, and the purple shadows of night began softlyto drape the glaring desert and still there came no sign of thehoming aeroplane. 

"Reckon they don't want to risk a night flight and so have decidedto camp at the mine, " suggested old Peter Bell in response to MissPrescott's rather querulous wondering as to the reason of thenon-return. 

"That must be it, " agreed Roy easily, demolishing the last of a canof chicken. 

Truth to tell, inwardly he had not expected the travelers back thatnight, and perhaps there lingered, too, in his mind, a faint desireto test out the other aeroplane in a task of rescue, in the event ofthe one Jimsy was driving breaking down. 

But when morning came without a sign of the missing monoplanespeculation crystallized into a real and keen anxiety. It wasdetermined to delay no longer but set out at once in search of it. To this end the recently equipped airship was stocked with food andwater, and shortly before noon Roy finished the final tuning up ofthe engine. The others watched him anxiously as he worked. Itseemed clear enough that some real accident must have occurred tothe other machine. 

"James would never keep us in suspense like this, " said Mr. Bell, "if he could reach us and relieve our anxiety. "

Roy was just about to clamber into the chassis when Peggy and Jess, who had been missing for several minutes, emerged from their tent. Each girl wore an aviation hood and stout leather gauntlets. Plainly they were dressed for aerial flight. Roy gazed at themquizzically. 

"I hate to disappoint you girls, " he said, "but I've got to play alone hand in this thing. "

"No such thing, " said Peggy in her briskest tones; "what if anythinghappened to you? Who would run the machine if we weren't along?"

"That's quite true, Roy, " struck in Jess, "and besides if--ifanything has gone wrong with Jimsy who has a better right to be nearhim than I?"

Roy looked perplexed. 

"What am I to do, Aunt Sally?" he appealed, turning to MissPrescott. 

To Peggy's astonishment, as much as anyone else's, Miss Prescott didnot veto their going. 

"I think it would be great folly for you to go on an expedition ofthis kind alone, " she said, addressing Roy. "As Peggy says, ifanything went wrong what could you do alone?"

"Oh, aunt, you're a dear!" cried Peggy, giving the kindly old lady abear hug. 

"But I make one condition, " continued Miss Prescott, "and that is, that whatever you find, you do not delay, but report back here assoon as possible. I could not bear much more anxiety. "

This was readily promised, and ten minutes later the three youngaviators were in the chassis of the big monoplane. After a moment'sfiddling with levers and adjustments Roy started the motor. Heavilyladen as it was the staunch aeroplane shot upward steadily after ashort run. As it grew rapidly smaller, and finally became a mereblack shoe button in the distance, Miss Prescott turned to old PeterBell with a sigh. 

"Heaven grant they all come back safe and sound, " she exclaimed. 

"Amen to that, ma'am, " was the response, and then unconsciouslylapsing into his rhythmical way of expressing himself, the old manadded: "Though flying through the air so high they'll come backsafely by and by. "

And then, while old Peter shuffled off to water the stock, MissPrescott fell to continuing her fancy work which the good lady hadbrought with her from the Fast. An odd picture she made, sittingthere in that dreary grove in the desert, with her New Englandsuggestion of primness and house-wifely qualities showing instriking contrast to the strange setting of the rest of the picture. 

CHAPTER IX

AGAINST HEAVY ODDS

"Any sign of them yet, Roy?"

Peggy leaned forward and gently touched her brother's arm. 

"I can't see a solitary speck that even remotely resembles them, " hesaid. "It looks bad, " he added with considerable anxiety in histones. 

Peggy took a peep at the plan which was spread out before Roy on alittle shelf designed to hold aerial charts. Then she glanced atthe compass and the distance indicator. 

"We must be close to the place now, " she said; "it's somewhere offthere, isn't it?"

"There" was a range of low hills cut and slashed by steep-walledgullies and canyons. In some of these canyons there appeared to betraces of vegetation, giving rise to the suspicion that water mightbe obtained there by digging. 

Roy nodded. 

"That's the place, and there's that high cone shaped hill that theplan indicates as the location of the mine. "

"But there's not a trace of them-oh, Jimsy!"

Jess's tones were vibrant with cruel anxiety. Her face was pale andtroubled. As for Peggy, her heart began to beat uncomfortably fast. But she wisely gave no outer sign. 

"Don't worry, girlie, " she said in as cheerful and brisk a tone asshe could call up on the spur of the moment, "it will be all right. I'm sure of it. "

Circling high above the range of barren hills they took a thoroughsurvey of them. There was no sign of the missing aeroplane or heroccupants, but all at once beneath them they saw something thatcaused them all to utter an astonished shout. 

In one of the shallower gullies there was suddenly revealed theforms of an immense pack of animals of a gray color and not unlikedogs. 

"Wolves!" cried Peggy. 

"No, they are coyotes, " declared Roy; "I recollect now hearing Mr. Bell say that these hills were frequented by them. "

While they still hovered above the strange sight, a sudden swingbrought another angle of the gully into view, and there, hiddenhitherto by a huge rock, was the missing aeroplane. 

But of its occupants there was not a trace. 

"We must descend at once, " decided Roy. 

"But, Roy, the coyotes!"

It was Jess who spoke. The sight of the immense pack of the brutesthoroughly unnerved her. As they swung lower, too, they could hearthe yappings and howlings of the savage band. 

"I don't think they will bother us, " said Roy. "I've heard Mr. Bellsay that they are cowardly creatures. "

"If they do we'll have to fly up again, " said Peggy; "but we simplymust examine that aeroplane for some clue of the others'whereabouts. Besides we have our revolvers. "

"And can use them, too, " said Roy with decision. "Now look out andhold tight, for I'm going to make a quick drop. "

The gully seemed to rush upward at the aeroplane as it swooped down, coming to rest finally, almost alongside its companion machine. Luckily, the big rock before mentioned concealed the new arrivalsfrom the view of the pack gathered further up the gully. 

No time was lost in alighting and examining the machine, but beyondthe fact that none of the food or water had been disturbed there wasno clue there. Another puzzling fact was that the rifles Mr. Belland Jimsy had brought with them still lay in the chassis. Thisseemed to dispose of the theory that they had been attacked. Butwhat could have become of them? Was it possible that the coyotes--?Roy gave an involuntary shiver as a thought he did not dare allowhimself to retain flashed across his mind. And yet it was odd thepresence of that numerous pack all steadily centered about one spot. 

"I'm going to try firing a shot into the air, " said Roy suddenly;"if they are in the vicinity they will hear it and answer if theycan. "

"Oh, yes, do that, Roy, " begged Jess. "Oh, I'm almost crazy withworry! What can have happened?"

The sharp bark of Roy's pistol cut short her half hystericaloutbreak. Following the report they listened intently and then:

"Hark!" exclaimed Peggy, her eyes round and her pulses beatingwildly. "Wasn't that a shout? Listen, there it is again!"

"I heard it that time, too, " exclaimed Roy. 

"And I!" cried Jess. 

"It came from down the canyon where those coyotes are, " went onPeggy. 

"That's right, sis, and it complicates our search, " said Roy, "butwe've got to go on now. You girls wait here for me while Iinvestigate, and--and you'd better take those rifles out of theother aeroplane. "

"Oh, Roy, you're not going alone?" Peggy appealed. 

"I'm not going to let you girls take a chance till I see what'sahead, that's one sure thing, " was the rejoinder. 

Before another word could be said the boy, revolver in hand, vanished round the big rock. Hardly had he done so, when there wasborne to the girls' ears the most appalling confusion of sounds theyhad ever heard. The bedlam was, punctuated by several sharp shots, and Roy appeared running from round the rock. His hat was off, andas he approached he shouted:

"Get back to the aeroplanes! The pack's after us!"

At the same instant there appeared the leaders of the onrush. Great, half-famished looking brutes, whose red mouths gaped openferociously and whose eyes burned wickedly. 

But Roy had hardly had time to shout his warning before an accident, entirely unexpected, occurred. His foot caught on a stone and hecame down with a crash. The next moment the pack would have beenupon him, but Peggy jerked the rifle she had selected to hershoulder and fired into the midst of the savage horde. With a howlof anguish one of the creatures leaped high in a death agony andcame toppling down among his mates, a limp, inanimate mass. Thischecked the surging onrush for an instant, and in that instant Roywas on his feet and sprinting briskly toward the girls. 

Straight for the aeroplanes they headed. Reaching them theyentrenched themselves in what they could not but feel was animmensely insecure position. 

"Thank you, sis, " was all that Roy, with a bit of a choke in hisvoice, was able to gasp out before the leaders of the pack were onthem. 

More by instinct than with any definite idea, the young people begandesperately pumping lead into the seething confusion of gray backsand red gaping mouths. 

All at once poor Jess, half beside herself with terror, gave athroaty little gasp. 

"I think I'm going to faint, " she exclaimed feebly. 

Peggy gave her a sharp glance. 

"You'll do no such thing, Jess Bancroft, " she said sharply, althoughthe pity in her eyes belied the harshness of the words, "if you doI'll--I'll never speak to you again!"

The words had their calculated effect, and Jess made a brave rally. At almost the same instant a shot from Roy's rifle brought down thelargest of the creatures of the desert, a big hungry looking brutewith tawny, scraggy hair and bristling hackles. As he rolled overwith a howl of anguish and rage a sudden wavering passed through thepack. It was like a wind-shadow sweeping over a field of summerwheat. 

"Hooray, we've got them beaten!" shouted Roy, enthusiastically. 

The lad was right. Their leader fallen, the remainder of the packhad seemingly no liking for keeping up the attack. Still snarlingthey began to retreat slowly--a backward movement, which presentlychanged into a mad, helter skelter rush. Panic seized on them, anddown the dry arroyo they fled, a dense cloud of yellow, pungent dustrising behind them. In a few seconds all that remained to tell ofthe battle in the gulch were the still bodies of the brutes that hadfallen before the boy and girl aviators' rifles. 

They were contemplating the scene when, from further up the gully, there came a sound that set all their pulses beating. 

It was the shout of a human voice. 

"Thank heaven you were not too late!"

While they were still standing stock still in startled immobility atthe recognition of Mr. Bell's voice, there came another hail. 

"Hello, Jess! Hello, Peggy and Roy!"

Emerging from the cloud of dust which was still thick, therestaggered toward them two uncanny looking figures in which they hadat first some difficulty in recognizing Mr. Bell and Jimsy Bancroft. But when they did what a shout went up!

It echoed about the dead hills and rang hollowly in the silentgully. An instant later the reunited adventurers were busilyengaged in exchanging greetings of which my readers can guess thetenor. Then came explanations. 

"On arriving in the arroyo, " said Mr. Bell, "Jimsy and I decided toset out at once to examine the mine site, and lay if off forpurposes of proper location with the United States government. Imust tell you that the mine--or rather the site of it--is located inthat cavern yonder further up the arroyo. "

"Why it was round the entrance to that that the coyotes weregathered when we first dropped!" cried Peggy. 

"Exactly. And very much to our discomfort, too, I can tell you, "rejoined Mr. Bell dryly. 

"They had you besieged!" exclaimed Roy. 

"That's just it, my boy. They must have been famished, or theynever would have gathered up the courage to do it, for, as a rule, one man can put a whole pack of the brutes to flight. I suppose, however, they realized that they had us cornered, for, with a sortof deadly deliberation, they seated themselves round the mouth ofthe cavern, seemingly awaiting the proper time for us to be starvedout or driven forth by thirst. Luckily, however, we had canteenswith us and a scanty supply of food, otherwise it might have beenthe last of us. "

Jess shuddered and drew very close to Jimsy. 

"And you had no weapons, " volunteered Roy. 

"Ah, I see you encountered our guns in the chassis of the aeroplane. No, foolishly, I'll admit, we omitted to arm ourselves for such ashort excursion. Of course we never dreamed of any danger of thatsort in this lonely place, and least of all from the source fromwhich it came. But I can, tell you, it was an ugly feeling when, onpreparing to emerge with some specimens of the ore-bearing rocks, wefound ourselves facing a grim semi-circle, banked dozens deep, ofthose famished coyotes. They greeted our appearance with a howl, andwhen we tried to scare them off they just settled down on theirhaunches to wait. "

"Their silence was worse than their yapping and barking, I think, "struck in Jimsy. 

"It certainly was, " agreed Mr. Bell; "both of us tried to keep upgood hearts, but when the night passed and morning still found thebrutes there, things began to look bad. Of course we knew that youwould set out to look for us when we did not return, but we did notknow if you would reach here in time. "

"But you did, " cried Jimsy, regarding the dead bodies of coyotes thevanquished pack had left behind. 

"And excellent work your rifles did, too, " declared Mr. Bell warmly. 

"Our rifles and--the Girl Aviators, " said Roy, and proceeded to tellthe interested listeners from the cavern some incidents which causedthem to open their eyes and regard our girls with unconcealedadmiration. 

CHAPTER X

RESCUED BY AEROPLANE

"What's that down there?"

Roy pointed downward from the aeroplane to a small black objectcrawling painfully over the glistening white billows of alkali farbelow them. 

The lad, his sister and Jess were on their way back from the arroyoin which the battle with the coyotes had occurred. Mr. Bell andJimsy had been left behind, for the former was anxious to "prospect"his mine as thoroughly as possible in order to ascertain if it gaveindications of living up to its first rich promise. A briefinspection of the cave had thoroughly disgusted Peggy and Jess. 

"Is this a rich gold mine!" Jess had cried, indignantly regardingthe dull walls on which the torches had glowed unflatteringly; "itlooks more like the interior of the cellar at home. "

"All is not gold that glitters, " Mr. Bell had responded with asmile. At the same moment he had flaked off a chunk of dark coloredmetal with his knife. 

"There, Miss Jess, " he exclaimed, handing it to the girl, "that isalmost pure gold, and I am in hopes that there is lots more wherethat came from. "

And they had been kind enough not to laugh too immoderately atJess's discomfiture. 

A short time later, having located a water hole and partaken of agood lunch, Roy and his companions had re-embarked and started backto camp with the joyful tidings that the missing adventurers hadbeen found. They had been under way but a short time when Roy'sattention had been attracted by the moving dot which had caused himto utter the exclamation recorded at the beginning of this chapter. 

Against the flat, baking, quivering expanse of alkali the crawlingsplotch of black showed up as plainly as a blot of ink on a sheet ofclean white blotting paper. Peering over the edge of the chassis theyall scrutinized it closely. 

"It's--it's a man!" cried Jess at length. 

"So it is!" declared Peggy, "and on foot. What can he be doing outin this desert country without a horse?"

"He's in trouble anyhow, " declared Roy, excitedly. "See, he'sstaggering along so painfully that it looks as if he couldn't go astep further. I'm going to drop and find out what the trouble is. "

As he spoke the boy threw in the descending clutch, and the bigmonoplane began to drop as swiftly as a buzzard that has espied someprey far beneath him. 

As they rushed downward the whirr of their descent seemed to arousethe being so painfully crawling over the hot waste beneath them. Helooked up, and then, extending his hands upward in a gesture ofbewilderment, he staggered forward and the next instant stretchedhis length on the alkali, falling face downward. 

"Oh, he is dead!" shrilled Jess, clasping her hands. 

"I don't think so, " was Roy's grave reply, "but we must get to himas quickly as we can. "

There was no need to tell Peggy to get the water canteen ready. Herbusy little, fingers were fumbling with it. As they touched theground she leaped nimbly from the chassis and sped over the burningdesert floor to the side of the recumbent wayfarer. A second laterRoy and Jess joined her. Very tenderly they turned the insensibleman upon his back and dashed the water upon his face. 

He was a short, rather stockily built man of middle age, andobviously, from his mahogany colored skin and lank black hair, aMexican. He was dressed in a tattered shirt with a serape thrownabout the neck to keep off the blazing rays of the sun. His feetwere encased in a kind of moccasins over which spurs were strapped. Evidently, then, he had been mounted at some time--presumablyrecently, but where was his horse? How did he come to be wanderingunder the maddening heat of the sun over the vast alkali waste. Butthese were questions the answers to which had to be deferred for thepresent, for it began to appear doubtful if they had arrived in timeto fan the wanderer's vital spark back into flame. 

But at length their ministrations met with their reward. The man'seyelids flickered and a deep sigh escaped his lips. Before longthey could press the water canteen to his mouth. He seized it withavidity and would have drained it. 

"Only a little, " cried Peggy; "I read once how a man, dying ofthirst, was killed outright when he was given too much water todrink. "

So Roy wrenched the canteen from the prostrated man's feeble graspbefore he had drained more than a mouthful or two. But even thathad revived him, and he was able to sit up and gaze aboutbewilderedly. All at once his eyes rested on Peggy, and he seemedto regard her as the means of his salvation from a terrible death onthe alkali. Kneeling down he cried out in a pitifully crackedvoice:

"You missie angel from heaven. Me Alverado your servant always. Nogo away ever!"

"By ginger, Peggy, you've made a conquest!" cried Roy, halfhysterically. 

Now that the strain of the struggle between life and death was overPeggy flushed and looked embarrassed. She was not used to theexaggerated character of the Mexican. But if she feared anotheroutburst it did not come. Far too much exhausted to say more, Alverado--as he called himself--sank back once more on the alkali. 

"Quick! Carry him to the aeroplane and get him into camp, " criedRoy, raising the half-conscious Mexican's head. "You girls take hisfeet and we'll put him in the bottom of the chassis on thosecushions. "

Consequently, when the aeroplane once more took the air it was tofly lower than usual under its additional burden, but in the heartsof all three of its American occupants there rang the joy of havingsaved a human life from the unsparing alkali. 

"Aunt Sally! Aunt Sally! Everything's all right and we've got apatient for you, " was Peggy's rather uncomplimentary greeting as theaeroplane alighted and came spinning across the dusty expanse towardthe willow clump. 

Miss Prescott threw up her hands and old Mr. Peter Bell hastenedfrom amidst his beloved horses. 

"Everything's all right but you've got a patient!" cried the NewEngland lady, who looked very prim and unwesternlike in a ginghamgown and sun bonnet to match. 

"No time for explanations now, " cried Roy. "Come on, Mr. Bell, andhelp us get our sick man out and then we'll tell you all about howwe found Jimsy and Mr. Bell at the mine. "

With Mr. Bell's assistance it did not take long to transfer Alveradofrom the aeroplane to a cot, and Miss Prescott, who, as Roy said, would "rather nurse than eat, " ministered to him to such good effectthat by nightfall he was able to sit up and tell his story. In themeantime the excited youngsters had related their narratives, whichMiss Prescott interrupted in a dozen places by: "Land's sakes!""Good gracious me!"

"Oh, what a dreadful country!" and much more to the same effect. 

All the time he was relating his story Alverado kept his eyes fixedon Peggy's face, with much the same expression as that worn by afaithful spaniel. At first this fixed gaze annoyed the young girlnot a little, but soon she realized that it was entirely respectfuland meant as a tribute, for the Mexican evidently regarded her ashis rescuer in chief. 

Alverado's story proved vague and sketchy, but he could not beinduced to enlarge upon it. In brief his tale was that some yearsbefore, when crossing the desert on his way from a mine he owned, hehad been attacked by a band of highwaymen. They had wrecked hiswagon and murdered his family, who were traveling with him. Theyhad attacked him because of their impression that he was carryingmuch gold with him, whereas, in reality, he had secured nothing buta living from his desert mine. In their rage at being thwarted, themiscreants had wiped out the Mexican's family and left him for deadwith a wound in his skull. 

But a wandering band of Nevada Indians had happened along while theMexican still lay unconscious and, reviving him, carried him withthem over the border into California. He had parted from them soonafter and drifted down into Mexico. In time he accumulated a smallfortune, but the thought of the wrong he had suffered never left hisheart. At last his affairs reached a stage where he felt justifiedin returning to Nevada to try to find some trace of his wrongers, and demand justice. He had set out well equipped, but, a few daysbefore the young aviators encountered him, his water burro hadstumbled and fallen, and in the fall had broken the water kegs itcarried. From that time on his trip across the alkali had been anightmare. First his pony had died, and then his two remaining packburros. He had obtained a scanty supply of thirst quenching stufffrom the pulpy insides of cactus and maguey leaves, but when theaviators had discovered him he had been in the last stages of deathfrom thirst and exhaustion--the death that so many men on the alkalihave met alone and bravely. 

"Do you know the name of the men who attacked you and treated you socruelly?" asked Peggy, breaking the tense silence which followed theconclusion of the Mexican's dramatic narrative. 

A dark look crossed the man's swarthy features. 

"One name onlee I know, mees, " he said, with a snarl which somehowreminded Peggy of the coyotes of the arroyo. 

"And his name was?"

"Red Beel Soomers!"

"'Red Bill Summers!" they all echoed, except Miss Prescott and oldMr. Peter Bell, the latter of whom had fallen into a reverie. 

As if they had been emblazoned in electric lights, the words ofProfessor Wandering William flashed across Peggy's brain. 

"The most desperate ruffian on the Nevada desert. "

And at the same time, with one of those quick, flashes of intuitionwhich growing girls share with grown women, Peggy sensed a vagueconnection between that sinister conversation she had overheard onher wakeful night at the National House and the dreaded Red Bill. 

CHAPTER XI

THE HORSE HUNTERS

Bright and early the next day the aeroplane whizzed back to thearroyo, carrying a fresh supply of food and water, for Mr. Bell haddecided to investigate his "prospect" thoroughly while he had anopportunity. To his mind, he had declared, the lead, or pay streak, ran back far into the base of the barren hills, and might yieldalmost untold of riches if worked properly. Among the suppliescarried by the aeroplane, therefore, was a stock of dynamite fromthe red painted box. 

In the meantime Alverado had to be accepted perforce as a member ofthe party. In the first place, he showed no disposition to leave, and in the second, even had he done so, there was no horse or burrothat could be spared for him to ride. When Mr. Bell heard of thenew addition to the camp he was at first not best pleased. Everyadditional mouth meant an extra strain on their supplies, but hesurrendered to the inevitable, and finally remarked:

"Oh, well, I guess he'll be useful enough about the place. Anyhow, if we need him we can put him to work in the mine. "

Peggy and Jess had accompanied Roy over in the aeroplane to themine, but Mr. Bell insisted on their returning. "This is not workfor women or girls, " he said, much to Peggy's inward disgust. 

Jess, with her daintier ideas, however, was nothing averse to thethought of getting back to the creature comforts of the permanentcamp in the willows. 

"But who's going to get you back, I'd like to know, " exclaimed Mr. Bell, shoving back his sombrero and scratching his head perplexedly;"it's important, for reasons you know of, that I should prospectthis claim so that I can record it to the limit, and to do that I'llneed Roy. Maybe after all, you'd better stay. "

Peggy's eyes danced delightedly, but Jess spoiled it all by saying:

Why, Peggy can run the aeroplane better than either Roy or Jimsy, Mr. Bell. "

"O-h-h! Jess!" shouted Roy derisively. 

"Well, she can, and you know it, too, " declared Jess loyally. 

"Why that's so, isn't it?" cried Mr. Bell, glad of this way out ofhis difficulty. After that there was nothing for Peggy to do but togive in gracefully. 

The two girls were ready to start back when Mr. Bell reached intohis pocket and drew forth a bit of carefully folded paper. 

"I'll entrust this to you, " he said to Peggy; "it's for my brother. It's a correct description of the mine's location so far as we haveexplored it. The plan is a duplicate one, and I'll feel safer if Iknow that, beside the original, my brother has a copy. In the eventof one being lost a lot of work would be saved. "

Soon after this, adieus were said, and the aeroplane soared highinto the clear, burning air above the desolate ridges. UnderPeggy's skillful hands the plane fairly flew. At the pace theyproceeded it was not long before the willows, a dark clump amid thesurrounding ocean of glittering waste, came into view. A veteran ofthe air could not have made a more accurate or an easier landingthat did Peggy. The big machine glided to the ground as softly as afeather, just at the edge of the patch of shade and verdure whichmade up Steer Wells. 

That afternoon, after the midday meal, a cloud of dust to thesouthward excited everybody's attention. After scanning theoncoming pillar closely Alverado announced that it was caused by aparty of horsemen, and it soon became evident that the willow clumpwas their destination. 

"Oh, mercy, I do hope they aren't Indians and we shall all bemurdered in our beds!" cried Miss Prescott in considerable alarm. The good lady clasped her hands together distractedly. 

"We might be murdered in our hammocks, aunt, " observed Peggy, indicating two gaudy specimens of the hanging lounges which had beensuspended under the shade; "but only very lazy people could bemurdered in bed at two o'clock in the afternoon. "

"You know perfectly well what I mean, " Miss Prescott began withdignity, when Alverado, who, like the rest, had been watching theadvancing cavalcade eagerly, suddenly announced:

"They vaqueros--cowboys!"

"Cowboys!" shrilled Miss Prescott. "That's worse. Oh, dear, I wishI'd never come to the land of the cowboys!"

"You speak as if they were some sort of animal, aunt, " laughedPeggy. "I daresay there is no reason to be alarmed at them. I'vealways heard that they were very courteous and deferential toladies. "

"What would cowboys be doing away out here where there isn't a cowor a calf or even an old mule in sight?" inquired Jess. 

"Maybe on wild horse hunt, " rejoined Alverado with a shrug. 

"Are there wild horses hereabouts then?" asked old Mr. Bell, andthen quite absent-mindedly he began murmuring:

"Masseppa, Masseppa tied to a wild horse;In the way of revenge, as a matter of course. "

"Plentee wild horse, " was the Mexican's rejoinder. "They cross thedesert sometimes to get fresh range. Cowboy trail them and cut themoff and lasso them. Then they break them to ride. "

"Oh, what a shame!" cried Peggy, impulsively. 

"No shame go-od, " declared the Mexican stolidly; "bye an' bye wildhorse all gone. Good. "

"I think it's hateful, " declared Jess; "just the same I should liketo see a wild horse hunt, " she added with girlish inconsistence. 

"So should I if they'd let them all go again, " agreed Peggy. 

Old Mr. Bell laughed, for which he was gently reproved by MissPrescott. 

"I shall bring this matter to the attention of the Society for thePrevention of Cruelty to Animals back home, " she said somewhatsnappishly. 

But there was no opportunity to exchange more remarks on thesubject. 

Uttering a shrill series of "ye-o-o-ows" the riders bore down on thelittle desert camp. From the heaving sides of the ponies, plasteredwith the gray alkali of the desert, clouds of steam were rising. Their riders, with mouths screened from the biting dust with redhandkerchiefs, were seemingly engaged in a race for the willow clumpwhere water and shade awaited them. 

"Yip-yip-y-e-e-e-e-e-e!"

The sound came raucously from behind a dozen bandaged mouths as theband swept down oil tile camp. And then suddenly:

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A volley of revolver shots resounded as the jubilant horse hunters--as Alverado had shrewdly suspected they were--dashed forward. 

"Oh, Land of Goshen!" screamed Miss Prescott, as, with her fingersin her ears, she fled into her tent and pulled the flap to. Peggyand Jess stood their ground boldly enough, although Jess's faceturned rather pale and her breath heaved in perturbation. 

"Keep still, honey, they won't hurt you, " comforted Peggy amid theuproar. 

Suddenly the leader of the horsemen drew his pony up abruptly, throwing the cat-like little beast almost back upon his haunches. 

"Boys! Ladies!" he shouted. 

Instantly every sombrero came off and was swept round each rider'shead in a broad circle. It was a pretty bit of homage and the girlsbowed in acknowledgment of it. 

"Hooray!" yelled the horsemen as they flung themselves from theirsteaming but still active little mounts. 

 "They're not so bad after all, " breathed Jess, still, however, clinging to Peggy's shirt-waisted arm. 

But the leader, hat in hand, was now advancing toward the two girls. The others hung back looking rather sheepish. They were not in thehabit of meeting ladies, and to encounter two young and pretty girlsin the midst of the alkali was evidently a shock to them. Theleader was a stalwart figure of a man, who might have stepped fromthe advertising matter of a Wild West show. Leather chaparejosencased his long legs. Round his throat was loosely knotted the redhandkerchief which they all wore when riding to protect their mouthsand nostrils from the dust. His shirt was once blue, but it was socovered with the gray of the alkali that it was difficult to tellwhat color it might have been originally. For the rest he wore abig sombrero, the leather band of which was spangled with starsworked in silver wire, and a pair of workmanlike-looking gauntletscovered his hands. 

"Beg pardon, ladies, for makin' sich a rough house, " he saidhesitating, "but, yer see, ther boys wall we didn't hardly expec'ter fin' ladies present. "

"I'm sure we enjoyed it very much, " rejoined Peggy quite at ease andher own cool self now "It was like--er--like Buffalo Bill--"

"Only more so, " put in Jess, with her most bewitching smile. 

"Um--er--quite so, " rejoined the plainsman, rather more at ease now;"ye see, we're a party that's out on a horse hunt. We got on thertracks of the band ther other side of ther San Quentin range, andfiggering thet they'd cut across here ter git to ther feedinggrounds on ther Pablo range on t'other side of ther desert westopped in here fer water an' shade. "

"My name's Bud Reynolds, " he volunteered tentatively. 

Peggy took the hint conveyed. 

"And we are part of a scientific exploring party, " she said. 

"College gals, by gee!" breathed Bud in what he thought was aninaudible aside. 

"The party is in charge of Mr. James Bell. This is his brother, Mr. Peter Bell--"

"Glad ter meet yer, I'm sure, " said Bud with a low bow as the poethermit stepped forward. 

"I am Miss Margaret Prescott; this is my chum, Miss Bancroft, andthere is my aunt, Miss Sally Prescott--"

Peggy, with a perfectly grave face, indicated Miss Prescott's tent, from between the flaps of which that New England lady's spectacledcountenance was peering. 

"Come out, auntie, " she added. 

"Oh, Peggy, is it perfectly safe?" queried Miss Prescott anxiously. 

"Safe, mum!" exclaimed Bud expansively. "If it was any safer you'dhav ter send fer ther perlice. Jes becos we're rough and ain't goton full evenin' dress you musn't think we're dangerous, mum, " hewent on more gravely. "I'll warrant you'll fin' better fellersright here on ther alkali than on Fit' Avenoo back in New York. "

"Oh, do you come from New York, " cried the romantic Jess, scentingwhat she would have called "a dear of a story. "

"A long time ago I did, " rejoined Bud slowly. "But come on, boys, "he resumed with a return to his old careless manner, "come up an' beinterduced. "

The others, hats in hand, shuffled forward. It was plainly a novelexperience for them. 

"And now, " said Peggy cheerfully, when the ceremony had beenconcluded, "you all look dreadfully tired and hot. The water hole'sright over there. When you've got off some of that dust we shallhave something for you to eat and some coffee. "

This announcement took the horse hunters by storm. With yips andwhoops they dashed off to the water hole, while Miss Sally and oldPeter Bell began to prepare a hasty meal for the unexpectedvisitors. 

CHAPTER XII

THE WATER THIEVES

It was an hour or more later when, having inspected the aeroplaneand marveled much thereat, the horse hunters arose to take theirleave. They would have to press on, they explained, to reach therendezvous of the wild horses in the San Pablo range. These hillslay far to the northeast. Bud perspiringly made the farewellspeech. 

"Thankin' you one and all, " he began, with perhaps a vaguerecollection of the last circus he had seen, and there he stoppedshort. 

"Anyhow we thanks you, " he said, getting a fresh start and jerkingthe words out as if they had been shots from a revolver. "It ain'tevery day we has a pleasure like this here hes bin--"

"Hooray!" yelled the other horse hunters, who, already mounted, stood behind their leader at the edge of the willows. 

"An'--an'--wall, ther desert hes dangers uv its own an' if at anytime Bud Reynolds er ther boys kin help yer out send fer them tother San Pablo Range and if we're thar we'll be with yer ter therlast bank uv ther last ditch. "

With a sigh of relief Bud flung himself upon his pony and drove thespurs home. Amidst a tornado of yells and shouts the rest, wavingtheir sombreros wildly, dashed off after him. In a few moments theywere only a cloud of dust on the alkali. 

"I declare I feel kind of sad now they're gone, " said Miss Sallyafter an interval of silence. 

"Rough diamonds, " opined old Mr. Bell guardedly. 

"But they've got warm, big hearts, " stoutly declared Peggy. "I wish—"

She stopped abruptly. 

"Wish what, Peggy dear?" asked Jess, noting the troubled look thathad crept over her chum's face. 

"Oh, nothing at all, " rejoined Peggy. But she was not speaking thewhole truth, for the girl had been thinking what a bulwark ofstrength Bud and his followers would have been against the vaguemenace of Red Bill. 

It was late that night--after midnight as well as Peggy couldjudge--that she was awakened by Jess bending over her cot in thetent that both girls shared. 

"O-h-h! Peggy, Peggy! I'm frightened!" wailed the girl aviator'schum. 

"Frightened? Of what dear?" asked Peggy wide awake in an instant. 

"I--I don't just know, " quavered Jess, "but, Oh, Peggy, you'll thinkI'm an awful 'fraid cat, but I'm absolutely certain I heardfootsteps, stealthy footsteps outside just now. "

"Nonsense, girlie. It must have been a nightmare, " rejoined Peggywith sharp assurance. 

"I might have thought so, " went on Jess, "but I looked out throughthe flap of the tent to make sure and I'm certain as that I'mstanding here now that I saw some figures on horseback over by thewater hole. "

"Perhaps another party of horse hunters, " suggested Peggysoothingly. 

"But, Peggy dear, they made hardly any noise. That is, the horses Imean. I heard men's footsteps, but after a minute they mounted androde off, and--oh, it was too ghostly for anything--they made nonoise at all. "

"You mean you couldn't hear any sound of the ponies' hoofs?" askedPeggy incredulously. 

"No, they moved in absolute silence. Peggy, you don't think it wasanything supernatural, do you?"

For answer Peggy drew her revolver from under her pillow and tiptoedto the tent flap. It faced the water hole and in the bright whitemoonlight a clear view of it could be obtained. But after aprolonged scrutiny Jess's plucky chum was unable to make out anyobjects other than the usual ones appertaining to the camp. 

"Imagination, my dear, " she said, with positiveness. But Jess stillshuddered and seemed under the influence of some strange fear. 

"It was not imagination, Peggy. It wasn't it really wasn't. "

"Well, we'll look in the morning and if we find tracks we shall knowthat you are right, and we'll get the boys back for a while anyhow, "reassured Peggy. 

But in the morning it was Alverado who came to the tent and in anexcited voice asked to see "missee" at once. 

Peggy hastily completed dressing and emerged, leaving Jess stillasleep. Something warned her that it would be best not to arouseher chum just then. 

"What is it, Alverado?" she asked, as the Mexican, betraying everymark of agitation, hastened to her side. 

"Santa Maria, missee, " breathed the Mexican, "water almost allgone!"

"The water is almost all gone?" quavered Peggy, beginning to sensewhat was coming. 

"Yes, missee. Me go there this morning and--Madre de Dios--thewater hole almost empty. "

"Were there any tracks?" inquired Peggy anxiously. 

"Plenty tracks, but the man's had the cavallos' feet bundled insacks so make no noise--leave no tracks. "

"Let me have a look. "

With Alverado at her side Peggy hastened toward the water hole. Shecould hardly repress an exclamation of alarm as she gazed at thehole. Bare six inches of muddy water was on the bottom, where theday before there had been a foot or more. All about were vagueblotty-looking tracks which showed plainly enough the manner inwhich the marauders had concealed all noise of their movements. Themuffled hoofs would naturally give forth no sound. 

"So Jess was right after all, " breathed Peggy softly; "but who couldhave done such a thing? And why?"

But the latter question had not framed itself in her mind before itwas answered. Without water they would not be able to exist atSteer Wells for twenty-four hours. A retreat would be equallyimpracticable. It was all horribly clear. The theft of the waterwas the first step in a deliberate plan to drive them out. Themotive, too, was plain enough in the light of the overheardconversation at the National Hotel. The men who wanted Mr. Bell'smine had waited till he had located it before striking their firstblow. What would their next be? Peggy's pulses throbbed and thegrove seemed to blur for an instant. But the next moment she wasmistress of herself again. Clearly there was only one thing to do. Lay the whole matter before Mr. Bell. 

"Alverado, " said Peggy quietly, "after breakfast I am going to therange over yonder. You must guard the camp. "

"Yes, missee, " replied the Mexican; "I take care of him with--withmy life. "'

"I am sure you will, " said Peggy in her most matter-of-fact tones, "and in the mean time say nothing to anyone else about what you havefound. Bring up the water for breakfast yourself and don't let Mr. Bell come near the water hole if you can help it. "

"It shall be as the senorita wishes, " rejoined Alverado in lowtones; but there was a ring in his voice that told Peggy that shecould trust the brown-skinned "Mestizo" to the utmost. 

CHAPTER XIII

DANGER THREATENS

Somewhat more than two hours later Peggy brought her aeroplane tothe ground in the arroyo which had been the scene of the battle withthe coyotes. The girl could not help giving an involuntary shudderas she thought of the narrow escape they had had on that occasion. But in the light of the other and more serious menace which now hungover them like a storm cloud, the adventure with the wild beastsfaded into insignificance. Human enemies, more deadly perhaps thanany of the animal kingdom, threatened, and if signs counted foranything it would be no long time before they would strike. 

Peggy had not been able to leave the camp without some resort tostrategy. Naturally Jess had been anxious to come. But a quickflight had been imperative, and the presence of even one otherperson in the monoplane detracted somewhat from its speed. Then, too, Peggy had ached with her whole being to be alone--to think. She wanted to reconstruct everything in her mind so that when shetold all to Mr. Bell there would be no confusion, no hesitancy inher story. 

Three sharp toots on the electric signaling horn the aeroplanecarried--connected to a set of dry cells--resulted in an outpouringfrom the mine-hole of the three prospectors. Very business-likethey looked, too, in khaki trousers, dust covered shirts and rolledup sleeves. 

"Well, well! Early visitors, " exclaimed Mr. Bell jocularly, andthen struck by Peggy's sober expression as she stepped from the carof the aeroplane he stopped short. 

"My dear child, what is it?" he demanded. "Where are the twinfairies of light that used to dance in your eyes?"

"My goodness, Mr. Bell, you ought to have been a poet like yourbrother, " laughed Roy coming forward with Jimsy to meet his sister. 

And then, like his senior, he, too, was struck by Peggy's anxiouslook. 

"What's the trouble, sis; bad news?" he asked. 

"Anything happened?" demanded Jimsy. 

"Oh, no, no; set your minds at rest on that, " responded Peggy. "Everything is all right, at least--at least--"

Her voice wavered a bit and Mr. Bell gently led her to a stool infront of the rough camp they had set up in the arroyo. 

"Now then, my dear, " he said, "what is it?"

Peggy faced her eager listeners, and, recovering from her momentarytremor, told her story from beginning to end in a clear, convincingway. 

"Do you think I did right in coming?" she concluded. Her gaze fellappealingly upon Mr. Bell. She did not wish this sinewy, wiry, self-reliant man to think that she was a victim of a school girl'shysterical fears. But the mining man's words speedily set her atease on this point. 

"Think you did right!" he echoed, while a rather serious expressioncame over his face; "my dear girl, if you had not come to me Ishould have thought you did very wrong. You have made only onemistake and that was in not telling me before this time about whatyou overheard at the National House. This Red Bill, as they callhim, is one of the most unscrupulous ruffians that cumber the faceof the Nevada desert. In any other community he would have beenbrought up with a round turn long ago. But here, " he shrugged hisshoulders. "I suppose after all, " he went on, "it's the old storyof who'll bell the cat. "

"Do you think that we are in serious danger?" inquired Jimsy. Hiseyes were round as saucers and his usually good natured face looktroubled. 

"Well, not in serious danger, my boy, " rejoined Mr. Bell; "but, justbetween us four, mind, it behooves us to use all speed in gettingthe title of this mine recorded. This Red Bill is as resourceful asa fox, and what Miss Peggy has told us shows that he is closer onour trail than I should have imagined possible. The draining of thewater hole is unfortunate in two ways. If, as I now suspect, he iscamped in the hills to the east of the camp, it is plain that he hassecured a supply of water sufficient to last him for some time. Andthis cuts both ways, for his gain in that respect means our loss. The more water he has the less we have. That much is clear. "

"Clear as mud, " said Jimsy ruefully; but his tone robbed the wordsof any humorous significance. 

"You have reached a decision, Mr. Bell?" asked Roy. The boy had notspoken yet. 

Mr. Bell's mouth closed in a firm line and his chin came out in whatPeggy described to herself as "a fighting bulge. "

"Yes, " he said with characteristic vim, "I have. Steer Wells willnot be safe after daylight to-day for the women of the party. RedBill is dastard enough, through an attack on them, to try tointimidate me. We must shift to try to camp at once. "

"But where?"

The question came blankly from Jimsy. 

"Here. We have a moderate supply of water and there is feed of akind. Enough at least to keep the stock alive till our work iscompleted. You see, " he continued, turning to Peggy, "the boys andI have struck a very interesting lead. How far it goes I have noidea, but my mining experience teaches me that it is an offshoot ofthe mother lode. Until we have tapped that I don't want to file aclaim. "

Peggy nodded her head sagely. 

"I see, " she said, "you don't want to file your claim and then havesomebody else squat down beside you and win the biggest prize ofall. "

"That's it exactly, " said Mr. Bell, "but the question in my mind iswhether I am right in exposing you, Miss Bancroft and Miss Prescottto what may be peril. And yet--"

He broke off and a troubled expression crept over his weather-beatenface. 

"And yet, " Peggy finished for him, "there's no way for us to go backnow without abandoning the mine. "

"That's it. But if you--"

"I vote to stick by the mine. "

There was no hesitation in Peggy's voice now. 

Mr. Bell's keen gray eyes kindled. 

"You're a girl of real grit, " he said, "but the others?"

"I'll answer for them. Miss Prescott need not know anything of thedanger. After all, it may amount to nothing. As for Jess, she hasas much, and more, nerve than I have. "

"When it comes to eating ice cream, " put in Jimsy irrelevantly. 

Peggy, glancing about her, could not but reflect at the moment whata strange contrast the scene about them offered to the peacefullandscape and commonplace adventures of hum-drum Long Island. Notbut what the Girl Aviators had had their meed of excitement there, too, as readers of the "Girl Aviators and the Phantom Airship" wellknow. But in the scoriated hills with their scanty outcropping ofpallid wild oats, the fire-seered acclivities and the burning blueof the desert heavens above all, she beheld a setting entirelyforeign to anything in her experience. 

"It's like Remington's pictures, " she thought to herself as shegazed at the roughly clad group about her, the shabby tent, themining implements cast about carelessly here and there and thesmoldering fire with the blackened cooking pots beside it. 

Only one sharply modern note intruded-the two big, yellow-wingedmonoplanes. Even they appeared, in this wild, outre setting, to havetaken on the likenesses of giant scarabs, monsters indigenous to thebaked earth and starving vegetation. She was roused from herreverie by Mr. Bell's voice cutting incisively the half unconscioussilence into which they had lapsed. 

"Roy, you and your sister will take the monoplane in which MissPeggy rode over and bring Miss Prescott, Miss Bancroft and mybrother over at once. "

"But the stock and Alverado?"

The question came from Peggy. 

"Alverado, as you call him, can drive the stock across the desert. It should not take him more than twenty-four hours if he pressesright ahead. We can send out an aeroplane scouting party for him ifhe appears to be unduly delayed. "

After some more discussion along the same lines Roy, nothing lothfor an aerial dash after his hard work in the mine hole, made readyfor the trip. From a locker he drew out his solar helmet andgoggles and advised Peggy to don her sun spectacles also. ButPeggy, as on several previous occasions, declined positively to puton the smoked glasses designed to protect the eyes from themerciless glare of the desert at noon day. 

"They'd make me look like a feminine Sherlock Holmes, " she declaredstoutly. 

"I hope that you won't take it amiss if I say that you have alreadyproved yourself one, and a good one, too, " laughed Mr. Bell as thebrother and sister clambered into the chassis. 

But as Roy adjusted his levers for the rise from the depths of thesun-baked arroyo Mr. Bell held up his hand. 

"One moment, " he said, "bring back some of the dynamite with you. We're almost out of it and it's needed badly. We've got to blastthrough that streak of hard pan. "

"We'll bring it, " nodded Roy, "although I'm not going to tell AuntSally about it. I guess she wouldn't be best pleased at the idea oftraveling in company with such a dangerous cargo. "

As he spoke the propeller began to whir, and after a brief run, themonoplane took the air, rising in a graceful angle toward theburning blue. As they rose above the hills a reddish haze thatoverspread the horizon became distinctly visible. Peggy viewed itwith a little apprehension. 

"I hope that doesn't portend another electrical storm, " she saidrather anxiously, leaning forward and addressing her brother. 

Roy shook his head. 

"Guess it's just heat haze, " he decided. "Mr. Bell says that thosedry storms don't often come twice in one season. "

"Well, let's be thankful for small mercies anyhow, " said Peggy witha return to her former cheerfulness. 

The news that camp was to be broken at once and the base ofoperations removed to the hills, came as a shock to those leftbehind in the camp. Somehow the pleasant shelter of the raggedwillows had become a sort of makeshift home to them, and the idea ofwinging to the barren hills was not pleasing. Miss Prescott, however, was the only one who made an open wail about it. Old Mr. Bell took it as stoically as he did most things. Only, as hehastened about the camp making preparations for the departure, hecould have been heard humming:

"We've got to go far, far away, To the mountains, so they say;I hate to leave the willows' shade, But Brother James must be obeyed. "

Alverado received his instructions with a silent shrug. He informedRoy and Peggy that there was just enough water left to fill the bagsfor the dash across the desert. He said no more, but there was acurious kind of reticence in his manner, as if he was holding backsomething he did not wish to express outwardly. It was not tilleverything was packed ready for the start, and old Mr. Bell and MissSally had been hoisted and dragged into the chassis, that he drewRoy apart and spoke. Peggy was included in the confidence. 

"While you gone I follow up tracks from the water hole, " he said;"bime-by I come to place where sacks slip off one pony's feet. ThenI see a track that I make stick in my memory long, long ago. Thatday they leave me for dead on the desert. "

He stooped and drew the outline of a peculiarly shaped hoof on theAlkali-impregnated dust. The boy and girl watched him curiously. 

"Well?" asked Peggy, and she and her brother hung on the answer. 

Alverado's face became overcast by a black look. His eyes glowedlike two live coals. 

"I think then I never forget that track. I think the same to-day. The pony that made that track was ridden by Red Bill. "

CHAPTER XIV

LOST!

Good news awaited them on their return to the camp in the arroyo. Mr. Bell and Jimsy, while working in a desultory fashion on the veinwhile awaiting their return, had struck what is known in desertparlance as a water-pocket. They had at once set to work excavatinga fair-sized hole in the floor of the mine tunnel, and by the way inwhich the water gushed in it appeared as if there was a plentifulsupply to draw upon. 

It is hard to convey how much this bit of news raised their spirits. 

"Isn't it queer to think how just finding a little water will makeyou feel good out here, while at home all we had to do was to turn afaucet and we got all we wanted and never dreamed of being thankfulfor it, " observed Jess philosophically. 

"Wish we could strike an ice-cream soda pocket, " observed Jimsy, whowas vigorously scouring the dust off his classic lineaments. "Say, girls, how would you like right now to hear the cool, refreshing'fiz-z-z-z' of a fountain, and then hear the ice clink-clinkingagainst the sides of a tall glass of say--lemonade or--"

"Jimsy Bancroft, if you say any more we'll duck you head first inthat water hole, " said Peggy with decision. 

"Go ahead, " answered Jimsy quite unperturbed, "a cold plunge wouldgo fine right now. "'

"Well, we shall have to think up some other punishment for you, "decided Jess; "a quarter mile dash across the desert, for instance. "

"Well, isn't that the utmost, " snorted Jimsy; "here I try to coolyou girls off by describing the delightful surroundings of a sodafountain and then you threaten me with bodily violence. 'Twas everthus, '" and Jimsy, with an assumption of wounded dignity, strode offto where old Mr. Bell was already busy over the cooking fire. 

The midday meal passed off more brightly than might have beenexpected considering the circumstances in which the adventurersfound themselves. 

"At all events, we can't starve an the desert, " Jimsy, "even if wedo run short of water. "

"How is that?" inquired old Mr. Bell innocently, although thetwinkle in Jimsy's eye had put the others on their guard. 

"Because of the sand-wiches there, " rejoined the lad with a laugh, in which the others could not help joining. 

"I don't care about sandwiches, particularly ham ones, " struck inMiss Prescott ingenuously, which set them all off again. 

"Looks to me as if there might be a jack-rabbit or two in thesehills, " observed Mr. Bell after the meal had been dispatched. "Iknow it's not good form in the West to eat jack-rabbits, but they'renot so bad if you kill them when they are young. Anyhow, it wouldbe a change from this everlasting canned stuff. "

"I'll go, " Roy declared; "I'll take that twenty two rifle and Peggycan carry that light twenty-gauge shotgun. It's just the thing forgirls and children. "

"Oh, indeed, " sniffed the embattled Peggy scornfully; "I suppose youthink I can't handle a man's size gun?"

"I didn't say so, my dear sister, and I humbly beg your pardon foranything I may have said which may have hurt your feelings, " saidRoy with a low and conciliatory bow; "what I meant was that thelight twenty-gauge doesn't kick so hard and, moreover, won't blow arabbit to pieces if you happen to hit him. "

"Happen to hit him!" shouted Jess, going into a convulsion oflaughter. 

"Oh, you know what I mean well enough, " protested Roy, coloringsomewhat under his tan. 

"Want to come, Jimsy?" he asked, after a moment's pause. 

"Tramp over those old hills that look as baked as a loaf of overdonebread?" snorted Jimsy. "No, thank you. I'm going to stay home andread a nice book about Greenland's icy mountains. "

"And I, " declared Jess, vivaciously, "am going to persuade AuntSally to make us some vanilla and strawberry ice cream. "

So Roy and Peggy set off alone on their tramp in quest of game. Itdid not look a promising country for hunting; but, as Mr. Bell hadpointed out, an occasional jack rabbit might be met with. It wasrough going over the rocks and heavy sand, but Peggy stuck to itmanfully, and as a reward for her perseverance, had the honor ofbringing down the first game--a small jack rabbit, young and tender, that bounded almost under her feet from the shade of the sage brushin which he had been lying. 

This put Roy on his mettle, and brother and sister wandered furtherthan they had intended, urged on by the hope of further success. But no more game of any kind was put up, if we except one distantview they had of a sage hen. This bird was "sage" enough to takewing long before they came within shot of her. 

"Good gracious, that sun is lower than I thought, " exclaimed Roy, suddenly awakening to the fact that they had wandered a considerabledistance from the camp. Several of the monotonous ground-swells ofthe desert hills, in fact, separated them from it. 

"We'd better hurry back, " declared Peggy, "they'll be worrying aboutus at the camp. "

But to talk about hurrying back and doing it were two differentthings. Roy discovered, to his dismay, that not only had he lostthe location of the camp, but that their footsteps, by which theymight have retrailed their path, had been obliterated in theshifting sands. He said nothing to his sister, however, for severalminutes, but plodded steadily on in the direction in which hisjudgment told him the arroyo of the gold mine lay. 

It was Peggy herself who broke the ice. 

"Roy, do you know where you are going?"

Roy stammered a reply in what was meant to be a confident tone. Buthe felt it did not deceive the gray-eyed girl at his side. Evasionwas useless. 

"Frankly, I don't, sis. Everything seems to have twisted aroundsince we came this way earlier in the afternoon. I thought we coulduse the tops of the rises for land marks, but they all look as muchalike as so many sea-waves. "

A sharp shock, which was actually physically painful, shot throughPeggy at the words. The sun, a red-hot copper ball, hung in lividhaze almost above the western horizon. On every side of them werescoriated hills, desolate, forbidding, sinister in the dying day, and all fatally similar in form. 

"We must try shooting. Perhaps they will hear us, " suggested Peggy, a sickening sense of fear--fear unlike any she had everknown--clutching at her heart. 

Roy blazed away, but the feeble reports of the light weapons theyhad did not carry to any distance. Indeed, it was only thenecessity of doing something that had impelled Peggy to make thesuggestion. 

All at once an uncanny thing happened. A big, black desert ravenflew up with a scream, almost under their feet, and soared abovetheir heads, screeching hoarsely. To such a tension were theirnerves strung that both boy and girl started and hastily steppedback. 

"Ugh, what a fright that thing gave me, " exclaimed Peggy with ashudder that she could not control. 

"Nasty looking beast, and that cry of his isn't beautiful, "commented Roy in as easy a tone as he could assume. 

"Alverado told me that those desert ravens were inhabited by thesouls of those who had lost their way and perished on the alkali, "shivered Peggy. 

"Say, sis, don't be creepy. You surely don't believe all the rotthose superstitious Mexicans talk, do you?"

"No, not exactly--but--oh, Roy, " even plucky Peggy's voice broke andquavered, "it's so lonely, and whatever are we to do?"

The last words came wildly. Peggy was not, as we know, a nervousgirl, but the situation was enough to unstring the nerves of themost stolid of beings. 

CHAPTER XV

THE PERILS OF THE HILLS

Suddenly Roy gave a sharp exclamation. Something about acone-shaped peak to the west of them appeared familiar. 

"The camp is in that direction, I'm sure of it, " he declared, "comeon, Peg, we'll strike out for it, and in half an hour's time we'llbe telling our adventures over a good supper. "

By this time Peggy was willing to start anywhere if she wasmoderately sure the camp lay in that direction, and Roy's enthusiasmwas contagious. Filled with renewed hope the brother and sisterstruck out for the cone-shaped peak. Its naked base showed violetin the evening shadows, while its sharply rounded top was bathed ina rosy glow of light. Even in her agitation Peggy could not helpadmiring the wonderful palette of colors into which the dying daytransformed the dreary desert sea. 

Beyond the range the vast expanse of solitude spread glitteringly. All crimson and violet, with deep purple marking the depressions inits monotonous surface, and here and there the dry bed of one of itsspasmodic lakes, showing almost black in its obscurity. These lakeswere water-filled only in the early spring, and their moisture hadlong since died out of them. Under a noon-day sun they showed likeshallow bowls filled with scintillating crystals. 

But, had they known it, Roy and Peggy were striking out on a courseprecisely opposite to that which they should have taken. Every stepof the advance to the sugar-loaf shaped peak was a step in the wrongdirection. Like many other travelers, whose bones whiten on thealkali, they had become confused by the monotonous similarity of onefeature of the dreary hills to the other. 

The true extent of their blunder did not dawn upon them till theyhad reached the foot of the queer peak, and even the most minutesurvey of their surroundings failed to show them any trace of thecamp. No cheerful glow of a fire illumined the fast darkening sky. For all the signs of human life they could discover, they might havebeen alone in a dead world. In fact, the scenery about them didresemble very closely those maps of the moon--the dead planet--whichwe see in books of astronomy. There were the same jagged, weirdpeaks, the same dark centers, dead and extinct, and the samebrooding hush of mystery which we associate with such scenes. 

Somewhere off in the distance a coyote howled dismally as the sunrushed under the horizon and the world was bathed in suddendarkness. 

Peggy turned to her brother with a low little moan. She caught herarms about his neck and hung there sobbing. In his solicitude forher, Roy forgot his own dismay and misery, which was perhaps a goodthing, for by the time Peggy recovered herself, the boy was alreadycasting about for some means of passing the night as comfortably aspossible. 

"We'll stick it out till daylight some how, Peg, " he promised, "andI'm confident that by that time they'll send up one of themonoplanes, and from up in the air they'll have no difficulty inlocating us. "

The thought was a comforting one, and Peggy's first flush ofpassionate grief and fear gave way to calmer feelings. No doubt itwould be as Roy had forecast. After all, she argued, it was onlyone night in the open, and they had their weapons and plenty ofammunition. 

By a stroke of good luck, Roy had stuffed his pockets full of thehard round biscuits known as "pilot bread" before they left thecamp. He also had matches and a canteen full of water. Poor Peggystill carried the lone jack-rabbit, the trophy of her gun, and Royat once set about grubbing up sage brush and making a fire with theoleaginous roots as he had seen Mr. Bell do. 

Before long a roaring blaze was ready, and then the boy began thetask of skinning and preparing the rabbit for cooking. Peggy turnedaway during this operation, but summoned up fortitude enough to gazeon while her brother spitted the carcass on the cleaning rod of hisrifle and broiled it in primitive fashion. 

"First call for dinner in the dining car forward!" he announced inas gay a voice as he could command when the cooking seemed to befinished. 

"The first course is broiled jack rabbit with pilot bread anddelicious, sparkling alkali water. The second course is broiledjack rabbit with--"

"Oh, Roy, don't, " cried Peggy half hysterically; "it reminds me ofthe train and the good times we had on the way out from the East. We didn't think then that--"

"Let me give you some broiled jack-rabbit, " proffered Roy, gallantlyextending a bit of smoking meat on the end of his knife. 

Peggy bit it daintily, expecting to make a wry face over it, but toher surprise she found it not half bad. Between them, the twohungry young people speedily reduced that rabbit to firstprinciples. 

"And now for dessert, " exclaimed Roy, in a triumphant voice. "No, I'm not joking--look here!"

He drew from his pocket a flat, pink box which, on being opened, proved to contain several cakes of chocolate of Peggy's favoritebrand. 

"Oh, dear, " sighed Peggy as she nibbled away at the confection, "ifonly I knew positively that we were going to come out all right I'dreally be inclined to enjoy this as a picnic. "

"Hooray! here comes the moon, " cried Roy, after an interval, duringwhich the chocolate steadily diminished in quantity. 

Over the eastern horizon, beyond the desolate peaks and barren"ocean" of the desert, a silver rim crept. Rapidly it rose till thefull moon was climbing on her nightly course and flooding the alkaliwith a soft radiance almost as bright as subdued electric light. Against the glow the weird, ragged peaks stood out as blackly as ifcut out of cardboard. One could see the tracery of every bit ofbrush and rock outlined as plainly as if they had been silhouettedby an artist at the craft. 

All at once Peggy gave a frightened little cry and shrank close toRoy. The firelight showed her face drawn and startled. 

"Oh, Roy, over there! No, not that peak--that one to the right!"

"Well, sis, what about it?" asked Roy indulgently. 

"Something moved! No, don't laugh, I'm sure of it. "

"A coyote maybe or another jack rabbit. In that case we'll have achance at a shot. "

"No, Roy, it wasn't an animal. " Peggy's tones were vibrant withalarm--tense as a taut violin string. "What I saw was a man. "

"A man. Nonsense! Unless it was someone from the camp looking forus. "

 "No, this man was watching us. He may have been crouching therefor a long time. I saw the outline of his sombrero black againstthe moonlight behind that rise. Oh, Roy, I'm frightened. "

"Rubbish, " declared Roy stoutly, although his heart began to beatuncomfortably fast. "What man could there be here unless it wasAlverado, and he couldn't possibly have arrived by this time. "

"But, Roy, it wasn't my fancy. Truly it wasn't. I saw a mancrouching there and watching us. When I looked up he vanished. "

"Must have been a rock or something, sis. Moonlight plays queertricks you know. Don't let's make the situation any worse byimagining things. "

"It was not imagination, " repeated Peggy stoutly. 

But Roy, perhaps because he did not wish to, would not admit thepossibility of Peggy's vision being correct. 

A long, loud cry like the laughing of an imprisoned soul cut thestillness startlingly. 

"Ki-yi-yi-yi-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!"

"Coyotes!" laughed Roy, "that's what you saw. "

Peggy said nothing. The sudden sharp sound had rasped heroverwrought nerves cruelly. 

"Ki-yi-yi-yi-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!"

The demoniacal laughing, half howl, half bark, cut the night again. 

This time it came from a different direction. From other grim peaksthe cry was caught up. It seemed that the creatures were all aboutthem. 

"Surrounded!" muttered Roy a bit nervously. He had not forgottenthe fight in the canyon, although, as he knew, coyotes, only on thevery rarest occasions, when driven desperate by hunger, attackmankind. 

The cries appeared to come from all quarters now. And they weredrawing nearer, course lay to the eastward there was no mistakingthat. 

"They are closing in on us, sis. Better load up that gun. "

As he spoke Roy refilled the magazine of his little twenty-tworifle. 

"Ki-yi-yi-yi-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!"

This time the cry was quite close and behind them. Roy switchedsharply round. The surroundings, the uncanny cries, the solitudewere beginning to tell on his nerves, too. His self-control wasbeing wrought to a raw edge. 

Was it fancy, or as he switched abruptly about did he actually see adark object duck behind a rock? An object that bore a strangeresemblance to a sombrero. 

"Good gracious, I musn't become as shaky as this, " the boy thought, making a desperate effort to marshal his faculties, and then hesniffed sharply. 

"What is it, Roy?" asked Peggy strangely calm now in the face ofwhat she deemed must prove an emergency. 

Roy's answer was peculiar. 

"I smelled tobacco just now, I'm sure of it, " he whispered in a lowtone. "I guess you were right, sis. "

"But the coyotes?"

"Are men signaling to each other and closing in on us. "

As he spoke the boy scattered the fire, and seizing Peggy by the armdragged her into the black shadow of the cone-shaped peak. 

CHAPTER XVI

RED BILL SUMMERS

A keen chill, sharp as if an icy wind had swept her, embraced Peggy. It was succeeded by a mad beating of her heart. Roy said nothingbut clutched his rifle. He jerked it to his shoulder as, out of theshadows, a figure emerged sharp and black against the moonlight. Asif she were in a trance Peggy saw Roy's hand slide under the barrelof the little repeater and then came the sharp click of therepeating mechanism, followed by the snap of the hammer as it fellforward. 

But no report followed. 

"Jammed!" exclaimed the boy desperately. 

At the same moment the figure approaching them, which for an instanthad vanished behind a shoulder of rock, emerged boldly, themoonlight playing on a revolver barrel pointed menacingly at thebrother and sister. 

"No foolin' thar, youngsters, " came a harsh voice; "we've got youwhere we want you. "

Coincidently from all about them the rocks seemed to spawn figures, till half a dozen men in rough plainsman's garb stood in themoonlight. Resistance was useless; worse, it might have resulted ina calamity more dire than the one that had overtaken them. 

But curiously enough the very hopelessness of their situationinspired in Peggy a far different feeling to the terror that hadclutched at her heart a moment before. She was conscious of a swifttide of anger. In one of the figures she had recognized therenegade guide. 

"Juan--you!" she exclaimed in tones in which scorn struggled withindignation. 

The guide turned away. Even his effrontery wilted before the younggirl's frank contempt. It was all clear enough to Peggy now. Evidently, Juan had been bribed by these men to stay with the partytill he had learned their plans, which he was then to betray to theband. For, in the moonlight Peggy had had no difficulty inrecognizing the men whose conversation she had overheard at theNational House. 

There was the red-headed man, with his coarse, bristling crop ofhair, and the mustache like the stumpy bristles of an old toothbrush, the tall, dark young fellow with the red sash and the silverspurs, poor Peggy's "romantic brigand, " and the hawk-nosed man withthe drooping mustache, who had formed the red-headed one's companionon the train. 

"Hearn of Red Bill Summers, I op-ine, " shot out the man with the redhair in a voice that rasped like a file on rusty iron. 

"I think so, " rejoined Roy quietly, and Peggy rejoiced to hear herbrother's calm, steady tones. 

"Wall, I'm him. You treat me right and don't make no fuss an' we'llgit along all right. If not--"

He paused significantly. 

"Whar's Buck Bellew?"

The red-headed one gazed about him. From the shadows steppedPeggy's "romantic brigand. "

"Buck, you put a couple of half hitches about them kids. "

"The gal, too?" hesitated the silver-spurred one addressed as"Buck. "

"Sure. Didn't I tell yer to. "

"Wa-al, I won't. That's flat. I ain't never persecuted women folksan' I ain't goin' ter start now. "

Red Bill Summers paused and then grumbled out:

"All right, then. She kin ride the greaser's horse. Juan, youyellow-skinned bronco, go git ther ponies. "

Juan flitted off and presently reappeared, leading half a dozen wirylittle ponies. In the meantime the remainder of the band hadgathered about Roy and Peggy, regarding them with frank curiosity. Except that their weapons were taken away from them no harm wasoffered them however, and Roy had not, so far, even been tied up. 

"This isn't a bit like the story-book hold-ups", thought Peggy. "Ifit wasn't for their rough clothes and fierce looks these menwouldn't be so very different from anyone else. "

"Now, miss, I'll help you to mount. Sorry we ain't got a sidesaddle, but we don't hev much use fer such contraptions with ouroutfit. "

It was the red-sashed man speaking. He held out a stirrup forPeggy, and the girl, perforce, mounted the pony. She caught herselfwondering as she did so what her friends at home in the East wouldhave thought if they could have seen her at the moment. It wasRoy's turn next. Brother and sister were permitted to ride side byside. Juan, to Peggy's secret satisfaction, was compelled to giveup his burro to one of the outlaws while he tramped along. 

"Serves him right, " thought the girl. 

The man whose pony Roy bestrode leaped nimbly into the saddle behindBuck Bellew. 

Hardly a word was spoken, but their captors closed in silently aboutthe boy and the girl prisoners. 

"Death Valley, " ordered Red Bill briefly, swinging himself into thesaddle. Peggy guessed that the sinisterly named place must be theirdestination. 

Amid the maze of pinnacles, minarets and spires of the desert rangethe horsemen forged slowly forward. From the fact that theytraveled toward the newly risen moon Peggy surmised that theircourse lay to the eastward . But presently it shifted and they beganmoving north. 

"Where can we be going?" Peggy found an opportunity to exchange aword or two with Roy. Owing to the rough nature of the ground theirrear guard had, of necessity, fallen back a bit. 

"No idea, sis. One thing seems certain, however, they don't mean toharm us, at least not yet. "

The rear guard closed up again, necessitating silence once more. All night they traveled, ambling at the plainsman's "trotecito" whenopportunity offered, and then again slacking to a crawling walkwhere the baked ground grew uneven and criss-crossed with gulliesand arroyos. 

At last, when Peggy's head was beginning to sway with exhaustion, the eastern sky began to grow gray. The coming day lit up thedesert wanly, as if it had been a leaden sea. But with the uprisingof the sun the familiar glaring white of the alkali blazed out oncemore. They had left the pinnacled hills and were now traveling overundulating country overgrown with rough brush. It was a sad, drabcolor, and smelled pungently where the ponies' hooves trampled it. 

But presently they broke into a different country. It was flatterthan that which they had already traversed and, if possible, moredesolate, sun-bleached and parched. The ponies stumbled over looseshale, raising clouds of suffocating dust that tingled in thenostrils. Down they rode into its basin-like formation. All aboutthe depression arose the craggy, stripped hills. Their jagged peaksseemed to shut out the rest of the world and compress the universeinto this baked, burning basin in the desert. 

Across the bottom of it the alkali swept in little vagrant puffs, proceeding from the gaps of the hills. It piled in little grayheaps like ashes. The air hung steady and still as a plumb linedropped from the sky. 

"We've got ter git across hyar muy pronto, (very quickly), " gruntedthe red-headed man, whose perspiring, fat face was coated gray withdust and alkali. "What a hole fer white men ter be in. "

"It's like a busted heat-blister on a big piecrust, " commented BuckBellew, whose jauntiness had wilted. His red sash was of a piecenow with the rest of his garments-a dirty, dull gray. 

After a while a hot wind sprang up. It felt like the heated blastfrom an opened oven door. It tore in mad witch-dances about thedismal basin, sending whirling dust-devils dancing over that drearyplace. 

They spread, gyrated, swelled to giant mushroom shape, and died downin a monstrous ballet. Peggy felt her senses slipping under thestrain. But she kept a tight rein on herself. 

"I must brace up for Roy's sake, " she thought. 

She stole a glance at her brother. Roy, despite his plight and thedust which enveloped him, was tight-lipped and defiant. No sign ofa breakdown appeared on his features, for which Peggy breathed aprayer of thanks. 

"After all, God is near us even in this dreadful place, " shethought, and the reflection comforted her strangely. 

Across the bottom of the bowl men and animals crawled like fliesround the base of a pudding basin. From time to time the water kegson the back of Juan's burro were sparingly tapped. At such timesBuck Bellew never failed to be at Peggy's side with a tin cup of thewarm, unpalatable stuff. But at least it was liquid, and Peggythanked the man with as cheerful an air as she could assume. 

But, unending as the progress across the red hot depression seemedto be, it came to an end at last, and the ponies began to climb thesteep walls on the further side. At the summit, a surprise was instore for them--for Peggy and Roy that is. To the others the placewas evidently familiar. Some rough huts, half of canvas and half ofbrush, showed that it had long been used as a rendezvous by theband. 

The spot was a perfect little amphitheatre in the barren hills. Green grass, actual green grass, covered its floor and wild oatsgrew on the hillsides in fair plentitude. From the further end ofthe enclosed oasis arose clouds of steam which they afterwardslearned came from boiling hot springs. But the waters of the hotsprings soon lost their heat, and in the course of years had wateredthis little spot till it literally--in comparison with itssurroundings--blossomed like the rose. 

Red Bill Summers threw himself from his pony and, lying full lengthbeside the creek that trickled through the valley from the springsabove, he reveled in the water. When he had drunk his fill hestood erect. 

"Wa-al, " he drawled, running his hand through his stubbly red crop, "I reckon we're home again. "

CHAPTER XVII

A FRIEND IN NEED

From one of the huts at the upper end of the miniature valley an oddfigure emerged. It was garbed in a blue blouse and loose trousersof the same color. Embroidered slippers without heels caused acurious shuffling gait in the newcomer. As he drew closer Peggy andRoy perceived that he was a Chinaman. His queue was coiled upon thetop of his skull, giving a queer expression to his stolid features, over which the yellow skin was stretched as tightly as parchment ona drum. 

"Here you, Ah Sing, hurry muchee quick and cook us a meal, " roaredRed Bill as he perceived the newcomer. 

"Alee litee, " was the easy-going response, "me catchum plenteequick. "

The Oriental, who was by this time quite close, allowed his slanteyes to rest curiously on the two young prisoners. His mask-likeface, however, betrayed no emotion of any kind, and with a gutturalgrunt he was off; apparently to set about his preparations forobeying the orders of the outlaw leader. 

Red Bill turned to Peggy and Roy, who had dismounted. 

"I'll speak to you two after we've eaten, " he said; "in the meantimethe young lady kin take that hut thar. " He indicated a tumble-downstructure near at hand. 

"It ain't a Fift' Avenoo mansion, " he grinned, "but I reckon it'llhev ter do. "

Then he switched on Roy. 

"You boy, " he growled, "you kin hev thet other shack. If you wantter wash up thar's a bucket. We've hot and cold water in thesediggin's, too, so take yer choice. Hot's above, cold's below. An'one thing. You ain't goin' ter be closely watched. It ain'tneedful. You rec'lect that red-hot basin we come through?"

As the questioner seemed to pause for an answer Roy nodded. 

"Wall the country all around hyar's jes' like that, so thet if yermoseyed you wouldn't stand a Chinaman's chance of gittin' awayalive. "

Red Bill, with a vindictive grin, turned on his heel abruptly andstalked off, followed by the others. Peggy and Roy were left alone. Seemingly no restraint was to be put upon them. In fact, itappeared, as Red Bill had pointed out, that an attempted escapecould only result fatally for them. 

"Whatever will Aunt Sally and the rest be thinking?" exclaimed Peggyas the rough looking group, talking and gesticulating amongthemselves, made toward the upper end of the valley. 

"Poor aunt! She must be in a terrible state of mind, " rejoined Roydejectedly. "If only we could have got word to her or Mr. Bell--"

"In that case we could have taken it ourselves, " wisely remarkedPeggy; "well, brother mine, there is no use in borrowing trouble. Let's make the best of it. I've an idea that that redheaded manmeans to offer us some sort of a proposition after dinner. "

"Wish he'd offer us some dinner first; I'm ravenous. "

"Well, I couldn't eat a thing till I've got some of this dust offme, so please get me a bucket of water. "

"Say, look at that Chinaman eyeing us, " broke off Roy suddenly;"wonder what's the matter with him?"

"Guess he isn't used to visitors, " suggested Peggy. "So this iswhere this gang, we heard talked about in Blue Creek, have beenhiding themselves. No wonder the sheriff couldn't find them. "

"It's an ideal hiding place, " agreed Roy, "far too ideal to suit us. I don't see how we'd ever get out of here without help. "

"Oh, as for that, I kept careful track of the way we came. I notedall the landmarks, and I really believe I could pick up thetrail--is that the way you say it?--again. "

"Good for you. I hope we have a chance to try out your sense ofobservation. But I'm off to get that water. Say, that Chinaman'sstaring harder than ever. What do you suppose he wants?"

"I haven't an idea. Opium perhaps. Don't they eat it or dosomething with it and then have beautiful dreams? I've heard--oh, Roy, " the girl broke off breathlessly, "I've got it! You know thatlittle jade god that Clara Cummings brought back from China with herwhen her father resigned as consul there?"

"Yes. But what--"

"Well, look here, you silly boy, I've got it on now. Look on mywatch chain. I wonder if that could be what--what that Mongolianwas regarding so closely?"

"Maybe, " responded Roy carelessly, "but now I'm really off to getthat water. Hot or cold?"

"Both!" cried Peggy. 

The spirits of youth are elastic, and even in their predicamentPeggy found her heart almost singing within her at the beauty of thegreen little valley after their long, dusty journey over the alkalibarrens. 

"After all, " she assured herself, "I don't believe they mean us anyreal harm and--oh, what an adventure to tell about when we get homeagain. "

A refreshing wash and a hasty adjustment of her hair before a mirrorin a tiny "vanity box, " which shared the watch charm snap with thelittle jade god, served to still further raise Peggy's spirits. 

Red Bill Summers and his followers ate at the upper end of thevalley, but the Chinaman brought food on an improvised board tray tothe captives. Having set down two dishes of a steaming stew of somekind, flanked with coffee, sweetened and flavored with condensedmilk, and real bread, the Oriental glanced swiftly about him. RedBill and his companions were noisily convivial, and paying noattention to what was transpiring at the lower end of the valley. Like a flash the Chinaman slid to his knees and extending his handsabove his head touched his forehead to the ground three times infront of Peggy. 

Then rising he exclaimed:

"Melican girl, gleat joss, mighty joss. Ah Sing he come bymby. Goo'bye. "

He turned swiftly and silently in his silken slippers and glided offwithout a backward look. 

"Well, what do you make of that?" wondered Roy. 

"Oh, Roy, don't you see. He was worshiping this joss, as he callsClara's little jade god. Just think, this may be a way out of it. If we can make him believe that--that--"

"That we stand in with his josh--joss--what do you call it?--youmean that we can scare him into letting us have horses to-night andescaping. 

"How you do run ahead, Roy. I hadn't thought of that yet. But itmight be done. He said he was coming back by and by. I wonder whathe wants?"

"Maybe your blessing, " grinned Roy. "But come on. Let's tacklethis stew while it's hot. It looks great to me after thatjack-rabbit supper. "

"And this is bread--real bread, too!" cried Peggy, following Roy'sexample of "tackling the stew. "

It was ten minutes after the last mouthful had disappeared that thetall, red-sashed young outlaw came toward the shack in front ofwhich brother and sister were seated. 

"The boss wants to see you, " he said briefly, and signed to them tofollow him. 

Red Bill Summers sat alone before the remains of the Chinese cook'sdinner. The other outlaws were busied staking out their ponies andremoving the dust and perspiration from the little animals' coats. Far off, like a lost spirit, the treacherous Juan with his burro, could be seen. 

From time to time he cast a covert glance toward Peggy and Roy. Inhis own country treachery such as he had shown would have beenvisited with death even if the avenger had to die for it himself thenext minute. 

The outlaw chief looked up as his dapper follower came up with theyoung Easterners. 

"Grub all right?" he asked. 

"Not bad at all, " responded Roy non-committally. He didn't want toshow this red-headed law-breaker that he was afraid of him. 

"Wa-al, thet's jes' a sample of ther way I'm willin' ter treat yeras long ez you're here. I've got a hard name around ther alkali, but I ain't ez black ez I'm painted. "

To this the two young prisoners made no reply, and Red Bill lookedat them searchingly, but if he expected to read anything from theirfaces he was speedily undeceived. 

"Now, then, " he went on, "as you'll have guessed, I didn't kidnapyou two fer fun. I did it fer infermation. I reckin' you knowpretty well the location of Jim Bell's mine. '

"No better than you do, " responded Roy boldly; "I guess thatscoundrel Juan told you all you wanted to know. "

"Oh, as fur as thet goes, " rejoined Red Bill easily, "I could rideright frum hyar to yer camp. But what I'm gittin' at is this:You've seen the papers Jim Bell is goin' ter file. You know therexact location. Thet's what I want. Give it to me an' I'll hev mymen take yer as close ter yer camp as it's safe ter go withoutkickin' up a rumpus. "

"In other words, you wish me to betray Mr. Bell's plans to youbefore he--"

Roy stopped. He had been on the verge of saying, "Before he's filedthe claim himself. " just in time, however, he recollected that thismight be news to the outlaw, and he stopped short. But Red Bill wasas astute as a desert fox. 

"Before he files the claim himself, you wuz goin' ter say, Ibe-lieve, " he drawled, purposely accentuating his words so that theyfell like drops of ice water from his cold lips. 

Roy could have bitten his tongue out. Quite unmeaningly he hadbetrayed a secret which might prove of tremendous import in thedesperate game Red Bill seemed bent on playing. 

"I said nothing about the filing or not filing of a claim, " parriedRoy, after a pause. 

"Yer don't hev ter say everything ter make yerself understood, younker, " snarled Red Bill, facing the boy and blinking his littlered-rimmed orbs into Roy's honest open countenance. 

"Thet's somethin' you've foun' out anyhow, Bill, " drawled thered-sashed young outlaw, drawing his thin lips back in a sarcasticsmile. 

Roy felt himself turning red with chagrin. He had intended to playa cunning game with Red Bill, but the outlaw seemed to be capable ofreading his mind. Steeling himself to be more careful in the futurehe awaited the further questions of his inquisitor. Upon the mannerin which he answered them he felt that not alone his safety andPeggy's depended, but also the security and possibly the lives ofthe party in the distant arroyo. 

CHAPTER XVIII

AH SING'S JOSS

"That'll be all on that line, " said Red Bill presently. He turnedto his companion. 

"Got a pencil and a bit of paper, Buck?" he asked. 

The red-sashed one produced the required pencil--a much bitten stub—andthen set off toward the cook house for a bit of paper. He returned withthe fly leaf out of an old account book. 

"Good enough, " said Red Bill. "Now then younker, " turning to Roy, "you take this pencil, lay that paper on that flat rock and write asI tell you. "

Wondering what was coming, Roy obeyed, while Peggy with wonderingeyes looked on anxiously at the strange scene. It had grown quitestill in the little valley. The only sounds that occasionallyinterrupted the hush were the shouts of the men tethering the poniesand the harsh scream of a buzzard swinging high against the burningblue of the desert sky. 

"Mister Bell, dear sir, " began Red Bill, dictating in his raspingvoice. 

"All right, " said Roy, transcribing the words to the paper. The boyhad an inkling of what was to come, but he didn't wish to maketrouble before he actually had to. 

"Got that, did you?"

'Yes. 

"Very well. Now write this: 'Me an' my sister is in the hands ofthose who are our friends at present. It depends on you if theyremain so. The messenger who brings you this will arrange for thetransfer of the location papers of the mine to these parties. Ifyou don't do this they will--'"

Red Bill paused and shoving back his sombrero scratched his rubicundpoll. 

"Make it 'they will-take other measures. ' Jim Bell's no fool an'he'll know what's meant by that, " concluded the outlaw of thealkali. 

"Why you ain't bin writing what I tole yer, " he whipped outsuddenly, just becoming aware that Roy's pencil had been idle. Peggy breathed hard. There was menace in the man's very attitude. 

Roy looked up boldly. 

"You don't suppose that I'm going to be party to any scheme likethat, " he demanded with flaming checks. 

Peggy, watching the little drama closely, saw that the ruffian wasplainly taken off his feet by this. He had not expected--or so itseemed clear--that he would encounter any opposition in carrying outhis rascally plan of playing off the safety of a boy and a girl whohad never wronged him for the sake of gaining the title to a mine. 

"What, you won't write it!" he bellowed at length. The great veinson his neck swelled. His little pig-like eyes gleamed malevolently. 

Roy stood his ground firmly, although his heart was beating farfaster than was pleasant, and a mist swam in front of his eyes. Buthe had seen Peggy watching, and knew that her trust in his integrityand honor had never faltered. Right then Roy took an inward oaththat he would not destroy her faith. 

"No, I will not, " he flashed back; "I don't see how you could expectme to take part in a plan to trap and trick my own friends. "

Red Bill's lip curled up, exposing a row of ragged yellow teeth. 

"Not even at the cost of your own life?" he snarled. 

Roy had half an idea that the ruffian was "bluffing" him. But evenhad he thought Red Bill in deadly earnest his reply would have beenthe same. 

"No!"

The word was ejaculated like a pistol shot. 

"Then listen. Your sister--"

To emphasize his words the outlaw launched his clumsy, thick-setframe forward. But the next instant he recoiled as if he hadstepped on the edge of a fearful abyss. Simultaneously Roy andPeggy became aware of a curious buzzing, whirring sound like therattling of dried peas on a griddle. A long dark body glided offthrough the yellow blades of sun-bitten grass. 

"It's--it's a rattler!" gasped Red Bill. 

He stooped as if to catch his ankle, and reeling fell in a clumsyhuddled heap on the floor of the valley. As he fell a shotreverberated through the silent place. With one bullet from hisrevolver the tall young outlaw had dispatched the reptile, which hadlain hidden in the grass. 

"Get you, Bill?" he asked laconically stooping over his chief. 

"Yes. I'm a gone coon I guess, Buck. "

His red face, contorted and purple from pain, the stricken man slidbackward. His lips parted and became ashen. The poison wascoursing through his veins with terrific rapidity. 

"Let me see. Maybe I can be of some use. Stand aside, please. "

It was Peggy. The group of outlaws that had gathered about therecumbent man gave place respectfully. From a bag at her waistPeggy drew out a little oblong leather case. It had been a presentto her from Mr. Bell before they set out to cross the reptile-haunteddesert. 

Opening the case she drew out a fairy-like little squirt, trimmed insilver. It was a hypodermic syringe. From a case she produced somecrystals of a purplish color. 

"A cup of water, please, " she begged. 

It was in her hand almost as quickly as she made the request. Inthe meantime, with a handkerchief she had deftly bandaged theoutlaw's leg above the bite. This was twisted tightly with a stickand prevented the poison circulating above the wound. 

On Red Bill's ankle the reptile's bite was plainly to be seen. Twotiny blue punctures, fine enough to have been done with a needle. Yet through the fangs that gave the bite had been delivered enoughpoison to kill a strong man. 

With flying fingers Peggy immersed the crystals in the water, turning it a deep crimson. Then filling the syringe she pushed itsneedle-like point under the outlaw's skin and just above the wound. Then she injected the antidote which she had mixed--permanganate ofpotassium--and old plainsmen will tell you there is no betteropponent of a rattler's poison than the one Peggy used, the methodof utilizing which had been opportunely taught her by Mr. Bell. 

Red Bill's lips parted. His voice came through them painfully, hissingly. 

"Thank 'ee, " he muttered, and then closed his eyes. 

They carried him into a shack a little way up the valley and laidhim on a cot. 

"Anything else to be done, miss?" asked one of the outlaws in anawed tone. 

"No, " answered Peggy with quite the manner of a professional nurse;"he'll do nicely now. In an hour or so he ought to be better. Youcan call me then. "

"Wa-al, I'll be all fired, double gosh-jiggered, " Roy heard one ofthe men say as they left the shack and emerged into the lateafternoon sunlight. The outlaws were all in the shack of theirleader. All, that is, but the Chinaman, who had been an interestedobserver from the outskirts of the crowd. As the boy and girl cameout of the shack he glided up to them as softly and silently asever. 

"Me see. You welly good. Allee samee doctor. Joss he helpee you, "he said in a low voice. Then glancing about he sank his voice to awhisper:

"But you no tlustee Led (Red) Bill. Him plentee bad mans. Hefeelee sick now. Him plentee thank yous. When he well he do youmuchee harm. "

"He could not be so ungrateful, " exclaimed Roy; "my sister saved hislife. "

"Umph. That plentee big pity. Why not let him die. Goodliddance, " opined the cold-blooded Ah Sing. "Listen, Melican boyan' girl, helpee you escape to-night you do one littlee ting forme. "

"You'll help us escape?" echoed Peggy, the blood beating in herears. "How? We'd need horses, water, food and--"

"Me catchee eblyting. Leve him all to Ah Sing, he git um. "

A cunning smile overspread his features. 

"But Ah Sing wantee some leward he do dis. "

"Of course. Any money you want you shall have in Blue Creek, " burstout Roy. 

"Me no wantee monee. Me want lillee misses joss. Him plentee bigjoss my countlee. I have that joss I have plentee eblyting I want. "

"He means the little god that Clara gave me, " whispered Peggy. "Allright, Sing, you shall have it. You shall have it when you areready to send us out of the valley. "

The Chinaman's face changed just the fraction of a muscle. That wasas near as he came to permitting himself to show his gratificationover the promise of the joss. 

"Allee litee, " he said, "bymby he get dark. You wait in misseesshack. When I ready I give one, two, tree knocks-so!"

As silently as he had glided up he glided off again just as thecrowd began pouring from the shack where the injured outlaw lay. Roy and Peggy could only exchange wild glances of astonishment atthe surprising turn affairs had taken. 

But presently Peggy spoke. 

"I knew when I prayed in that terrible valley, Roy, that a way wouldbe found, " she said, and her voice was vibrant with reverence andfaith as the brother and sister turned away. 

CHAPTER XIX

THE ESCAPE AND WHAT FOLLOWED

"Roy! Roy! Wake up!"

Peggy shook the shoulder of her brother, who had dozed off in arough chair formed out of an old flour barrel. She glanced at herwatch. It was almost midnight, and half an hour since the steadyfootfall of the sentry, who was keeping desultory watch on thecaptives, had passed the hut. 

Roy was wide awake in an instant. He sat up staring wildly about, and then, casting sleep from him, he listened intently. 

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The three raps came against the back wall of the shack, and then:

"Missee all ledee. Man who watchee you him go sleep. Me gotponies, water, eblyting. Make um number one quick. "

With quick, beating pulses the brother and sister slipped from thedoor and out into the valley. It was moonlight-that is to say, themoon had risen, but a peculiar haze overcast the sky and the lightof the luminary of the night only served to make the darkness morevisible. Back of the shack stood a vague figure holding two poniesby the bridles. It was Ah Sing. 

"You give me lilly joss now, missee?" he asked eagerly. 

Swiftly Peggy stooped and unfastened the little jade god fromfar-off China. 

"Here, Sing, " she said simply, "and thank you. "

The Chinaman bowed low three times before he took the precioussymbol into his keeping. He slipped it inside his loose blouse. 

"All ledee now, " he said, holding a stirrup for Peggy to mount. 

"But how will you explain it? Won't they kill you when they findthe ponies are gone?" asked Roy. 

The Oriental laughed the throaty, mirthless chuckle of his race. 

"I tellee them you steal them, " he said; "they no thinkee Ali Singhab good sense enough to help you. All litee now. Good bye. "

Before they were thoroughly aware of it, so swiftly had the actualescape happened, Peggy and Roy found themselves moving out of thevalley on their desperate dash for freedom. The ponies wentsilently as wraiths. The astute Ah Sing had bundled their feet insacks so that they made no more noise than cats. 

In the faint light they could perceive the gateway of the littlevalley, and in a short time they had passed it and were beginning totraverse the gloomy stretches beyond. Suddenly there came a soundthat sent every drop of blood in their bodies flying to theirhearts, and then set it to coursing wildly through their veinsagain. 

Bang!

The report, coming from behind them, cut the stillness of the nightlike a scimitar of sound. 

"A pistol!" exclaimed Roy. "They've discovered our escape. "

Peggy shuddered. Bending forward at the risk of the noise of theirflight being heard, they began to urge their ponies faster. Behindthem was pandemonium. Shouts, cries and shots mingled in a babel ofsound. 

"The kids hev got away!" That cry sounded above all the others, andthen, with sinister meaning, came another shout:

"Saddle up and git arter 'em. Get 'em, dead or alive!"

Sounds of galloping followed this order, and then came the shrillvoice of Ah Sing:

"Me see um. Me see um. They go that way! Over there! Over thehills!"

"Good for Ah Sing, " breathed Roy; "he has thrown them off the track. He's told them we went the other way. Come on, sis; now's our timeto make speed before they discover their mistake. "

The two fugitives urged their ponies unmercifully over the shale. Fortunately, in the rarefied air of the desert, the nights arecomparatively cool, and the tough little broncos sped along at agood gait without showing signs of distress. But it was a cruelrace across the floor of the desolate valley, and when they e mergedon to the comparatively easy going of the foothills of the barrenrange, the ponies were fain to slack up and draw long heavingbreaths. 

"Poor little creatures, " cried Peggy; "you've got a long way to goyet. "

By the moon, which showed through the haze in a sort of luminouspatch, Roy gauged the way. Peggy's observations, too, made on thejourney into the valley, helped. They kept the pinnacled steeps ofthe barren hills to their right and pressed forward among theundulating foothills. They had been traveling thus for perhaps anhour-pausing now and then to listen for sounds of pursuit when Roysuddenly became sensible of a change in the atmosphere. It grewwarm and close and almost sticky. A puff of hot wind breathed up intheir faces and went screaming off among the mysterious clefts andcanyons above. 

"Are we going to have a storm?" wondered Peggy. 

"Don't know, sis, but the weather looks ominous. I don't like thatwind. We must make more speed. "

"I hate to drive these poor ponies any faster, " protested Peggy

"But we must, sis. They'll have a good long rest when this is over. Come on. "

So saying Roy brought down his quirt--the long raw-hide whip used inthe West--over the heaving flanks of his pony. The little animalgamely responded and plunged forward at a quick lope. Peggy, perforce, followed suit, although it made her heart ache to pressthe animals at such a gait. 

On and on they rode, while the weather every moment grew morepeculiar. From the floor of the desert great dust-devils of whitealkali arose and swirled solemnly across the wastes. In thesemi-darkness they looked like gaunt ghosts. Peggy shuddered. Itwas like a nightmare. Once or twice she even pinched herself to seeif she were awake. 

The night, from being cool, had now become blisteringly hot. Thewind was like the fiery exhalations of a blast furnace. Grains ofsand caught up by it drove stingingly against their faces. Eachgrain cut into the flesh, smarting sharply. 

"We must keep on. "

It was Roy's voice, coming after a long silence. 

Peggy answered with a monosyllable. A short distance further onthey dismounted and allayed their thirst from the kegs Ah Sing hadfastened to each saddle, and. Then, although their supply wasprecious, they had to yield to the whinnied entreaties of theponies. Into a small tin bucket each young rider emptied a modicumof the water and let the little animals drink. It seemed to refreshthem--mere mouthful that it was--for they pressed on with morespirit after that. 

But there was no denying the fact that something serious was athand. From desultory puff s the wind had now increased to a steadyblow, which drove a stinging hail of sand all about them blindingly. Eddies of hot wind caught up larger grains and dried cactus stemsand drove them in terrestrial water spouts across the face of thedesert. The moon was quite obscured now, and it was as black as acountry church at midnight. 

All at once Peggy's pony sank down, and with a long sigh stretcheditself out upon the alkali. Roy's almost immediately did the same. As they did so the wind came more furiously. Half blinded and withnostrils, eyes and mouths full of sand particles, the two youngtravelers reeled about in the darkness. Suddenly what it all meantburst upon Roy with the suddenness of a thunder clap. 

"It's a sand storm, Peggy, " he cried. 

A puff of wind caught up his words and scattered them over thedesert. 

The words sent a chill to Peggy's heart. She had heard Mr. Belltell of the sand storms of the Big Alkali--how sometimes they lastfor days, blotting out trails and burying those unfortunate enoughto be caught in them. 

"Get your saddle off and keep your head under it, " shouted Roy, recalling what he had heard Mr. Bell say of the only way to weathersuch disturbances. 

Peggy, half dead with horror, did as she was told. By the time thework of unsaddling had been accomplished the wind was drivingfuriously. It was impossible to hear unless the words were shouted. The ponies, who had obeyed their first instinct at the initialwarning of what was to come, turned their backs to the storm andlaid out straight, with their noses to the ground. Roy and Peggydrew the big flapped Mexican saddles over their heads. Under thisprotection they were sheltered from the cruel fury of thewind-driven sand and brush. 

It was suffocating under the saddle, but when Peggy protruded herface for even a breath of the superheated air, she quickly withdrewit. The wind was now a tornado in violence, and the sand stung likecountless needles. Conversation was, of course, impossible, andthey lay in silence while the suffocating gale screamed about them. 

Once or twice Peggy had to scrape away the sand from the front ofthe saddle. She could feel it rising all about her. With thesensation came a terrifying thought. She had heard Mr. Bell tell ofmen whose bones had been buried in the sand only to be exposed longafterward, white and bleached, when the wind-formed sand dunes hadshifted and exposed them. 

All at once, above the wind and the steady roar of the furiouslydriven sand and alkali, Peggy thought she heard a wild screech orcry. It sounded like nothing human in its uncanny shrillness. Brave girl as she was, Peggy shuddered hysterically. Could she belosing her mind in the whirling confusion and elemental fury thatwaged all about her?

CHAPTER XX

THE PROFESSOR AGAIN

The evening before the sand storm, a red wagon had been crawlingover the alkali toward the barren hills. It was the eccentricvehicle affected by Professor Wandering William, and was headed forthe barren range of hills in which lay the valley of the outlaws. 

Professor Wandering William, silently smoking, kept his keen eyessteadily fixed upon the distant hills as he drove, although fromtime to time he scanned the sky anxiously. 

"Going to be a sandstorm sure, " he grunted. "Well, if I can makethe lee of those hills by sundown I reckon I'll be all right. Toobad though. It'll give that precious outfit a chance to put a stillfurther gap between themselves and me--phew! but it's hot!"

The professor took off his big sombrero and placed it behind him inthe wagon. He seemed to think a minute and then muttered:

"Oh, well, I guess it's no harm. Nobody to see but a few oldbuzzards anyhow, and they won't tell. "

The professor, having concluded these self-addressed remarks, did astrange thing. He raised his hands to his head and the next instanthis luxuriant long hair had vanished, revealing a close-cropped headof dark hair. This done, he removed his goatee with the same ease, and was revealed as a good-looking, forceful-faced young man ofperhaps thirty-two or so. 

"Ah-h-h-h!" he breathed with intense satisfaction, "that's a wholeheap better. However, I guess the time's coming pretty quick when Ican do without this make-up altogether. I shan't be sorry either. Git up!"

This last remark was addressed to the motive power of his jaunty redwagon. In obedience the wheels began to revolve faster. But pressonward as he would, supper-time found the professor--so strangelyshorn--still some distance from the hills. 

"That storm's coming right up, too, " he said to himself over hisafter-supper pipe; "well, no help for it. I guess we'll have topush on. "

Watering his animals from a bucket previously filled at the spigotof a big water keg built into his wagon the professor hitched up andpressed on to his destination. Darkness came on, but still he drovesteadily forward, seeking the shelter he knew he could find in thelee of the barren hills. 

"Going to be a hummer and no mistake, " he commented half aloud;"good thing-it-didn't catch me out in the middle of the alkali orRed Bill and his cronies might have had a new lease of life. "

It was close upon midnight when the professor found a spot to hisliking, and by that time the first desultory puffs of the comingstorm were sighing in the nooks and crannies of the barren hills. He tethered his team, gave them their hay in the shelter of thewagon, watered them and then, after a good-night pipe, prepared toturn in. He woke from a troubled doze to find the wind rocking thewagon within which he slept. 

"Wonder what kind of weather the ponies are making of it?" hemuttered, and rising he opened the canvas flaps at the front of thewagon and peered out. 

At that instant he saw, or thought he saw, two dark objects move byin the flying smother of sand. But the next moment he told himselfit must have been imagination. 

"Guess being alone so much is getting on my nerve, " he commented. 

Having seen that his stock were lying down and turning their backson the flying drift, Wandering William, as he called himself, retired once more. But he couldn't sleep for thinking of thestrange illusion he had had. 

"No, it wasn't an illusion either, " he said stoutly to himself thenext instant. "I'm prepared to swear that I really did see twofigures on horseback, though what, in great ginger cookies, theywere doing out in this I don't know. Appears to me though that theymust have had to call a halt right around here some place. In thatcase I'm going to give 'em a hail, an' if they answer it invite 'eminto the wagon. This is no weather to be out without an umbrella. "

Chuckling a little at his joke, Wandering William arose and wentonce more to the front of his wagon. 

Placing his hands to his mouth, funnel-wise, he sent a long, shrillcry vibrating out through the storm. Another and another he gavetill he was hoarse, but there was no reply. 

"Guess I was dreaming after all, " remarked Wandering Williamretiring once more to his blanket. 

A sickly yellow light struggling through the sand-laden air heraldedthe day. But the wind had died down and the particles still held insuspension were rapidly thinning out of the air. 

Roy thrust his head from under his saddle like a turtle from itsshell. 

His lips were dry and cracked, his eyes smarted, his skin wasirritated with the sand. The whole world seemed to have turned tosand. It was everywhere. 

"Peggy!"

A similar turtle-like head projected from the other saddle. PoorPeggy, she would positively have screamed if she had known theappearance she presented. Her hair was tousled, her eyes red withirritation of the sand, and her lips dry and cracked like Roy's. 

"Is--is it all over, Roy?" she asked a bit quaveringly. 

"I think so. The wind has died down, and look, the ponies havegotten to their feet. I guess they know. "

"Wasn't it awful. I never thought we should live through it. "

"Nor did I. But there's one good thing, it has obscured our tracks. If any of Red Bill's gang tried to follow us now they'd have a lotof trouble. "

"That's so, " agreed Peggy, and then went on to tell Roy of theterrifying screeches and yells she had heard in the night. 

"Nothing but the wind, " opined Roy, with boy-like superiority. Butthe next instant it was his turn to start amazedly. Through thefog-like gloom that still overhung the desert a figure was making itsway toward them. Roy's hand flew to the revolver with which thethoughtful Ah Sing had provided his saddle holster. 

At the same instant the figure, seemingly that of a young man, turned, and wheeling quickly, ran backward and was swallowed up inthe obscurity. 

"Was that one of Red Bill's men?" gasped Peggy. 

"Impossible. They could not have traveled through that storm. Butwho can it be?"

"What did he run like that for?"

"I'm going after him to find out, " declared Roy pluckily; "maybeit's somebody who has become crazed from the sandstorm. "

"Oh, Roy, a lunatic!"

Peggy clasped her hands. But the next instant a fresh surprisegreeted them. A tall figure with flowing gray locks and graygoatee, topped off with a big sombrero, was seen approaching fromthe same direction as that in which the youthful figure hadvanished. 

"Wandering William!" exclaimed the two young adventurers in onebreath. 

"Yes, Wandering William. The precise individual, " was therejoinder; "and just in time to invite you to breakfast. There, there, no explanations now. You both resemble the output of athreshing machine. But I have mirrors, soap, towels and water in mywagon. Come along, and if you feel ailing, for the insignificantsum of one dollar I will sell you a bottle of Wandering William'sWonderful Wonder Worker. "

Exhausted as both boy and girl felt, they could hardly maintaintheir gravity in the face of this eccentric individual. The verysuddenness and utter unexpectedness of his appearance seemed of apiece with his other odd actions. But suddenly Roy recollected thefigure that had appeared and then vanished. 

"I'd like to accept, " said Roy, with vast cunning as he thought, "but what would your partner say?"

"My partner?" Wandering William looked frankly puzzled. 

"Yes. That young chap who came toward us and then disappeared againwhen I came at him with a gun. Not that I blame him, " Roy broke offwith a laugh, "but I thought for a moment it was one of Red Bill'sgang. "

Wandering William's keen gray eyes narrowed into two little slits. 

"What's that you're saying, boy, " he exclaimed; "what do you knowabout Red Bill Summers?"

"A good deal too much for our comfort, " exclaimed Roy, and then herapidly sketched events of the last twenty-four hours as the triowalked toward Wandering William's wagon. 

The strange vendor of medicine seemed to be deeply interested, although he confined his comments to "ums" and "ahs. "

"But about that other man, " said Roy, returning to the charge whenhe had finished his narrative, "didn't you see him?"

"My dear boy, " said Wandering William seriously, "I think you hadbetter invest in a bottle of Wandering William's Wonder WorkingWitch Oil for tired and shattered nerves. There is no one in thevicinity but our three selves. "

Boy and girl stared at him blankly. 

"But I saw him, too, " said Peggy. 

"I dare say, I dare say, " and Wandering William patted his luxuriantcurls; "you had a night of strain. What you need is breakfast--hotcoffee and all that. Now go in and get fixed up while I attend toyour ponies, or rather, Red Bill's. "

The wind had by this time died down, and the sun struggled outthrough the clearing air. Nobody was in sight but themselves, andfain to believe that their sand-sore eyes must have played them atrick, the boy and girl proceeded to "fix up" in Wandering William'sreally comfortably appointed wagon. 

In the meantime one weight had been lifted from Peggy's mind. Wandering William had explained that it was he who had uttered theshouts and yells which had so alarmed her in the night. 

"If only it wasn't for that man whom I'm certain I saw, " thoughtPeggy as she combed the sand out of her hair, "I should feel quiterelieved, but as it is--Roy, are you still certain you saw that man--theone you pointed the revolver at I mean?"

Roy looked dubious. 

"I--don't know, " he confessed. 

"Oh, Roy Prescott, " snapped Peggy, "I--I'd like to shake you. "

CHAPTER XXI

OUT OF THE DESERT MAZE

Twilight was descending on the camp in the arroyo when Jimsy, whohad been stationed with a rifle on a butte overlooking the desertmaze, gave a sudden shout. The next instant his rifle was at hisshoulder and he began shooting into the air as fast as he could. Asthe rapid staccato volley of sound rattled forth all becameexcitement in the arroyo. 

The volley had been the signal agreed upon in case the young sentrycaught sight of the missing ones. It came after a wearing night anda still more harrowing day. Following the non-arrival of Peggy andRoy in camp from their hunting excursion a search had at once beencommenced, of course without result. 

An ascent had even been made in one of the monoplanes, but even abird's-eye view of the surrounding country failed to discover theirwhereabouts. Then came the sandstorm, and hope that the missingones could have weathered it was almost given up. Nevertheless, James Bell, in whom hope died hard, had set Jimsy as sentinel on thelofty butte in the wild hope that after all the castaways might turnup. 

And now, as the agreed signal rang out, there was a great outpouringfrom the camp. Aunt Sally, pale and red-eyed from weeping, Mr. Bell, with deep lines of anxiety scoring his face, Jess, troubledand anxious looking, and old Peter Bell, the former hermit, bearingan expression of mild bewilderment. Last of all came Alverado, theMexican flotsam of the desert. His inscrutable countenance bore nosign of the suffering he had gone through at the thought that harmhad come to his worshipped senorita, but in his heart the Mexicanhad suffered as much as the rest. He had arrived in camp with thestock the evening before, and had, with difficulty, been restrainedfrom setting forth at once on a search. 

"Look!" cried Jimsy pointing as the others rushed up. 

They followed the direction of his finger and saw slowly crawlingtoward the arroyo a red wagon, dust-covered and travel-stained. 

In front of it were two young figures on horseback, wavingfrantically. As the volley rattled out they urged their littlehorses forward on a dash for the arroyo. 

"Thank God!" breathed Mr. Bell huskily. 

Aunt Sally fell into Jess's young arms and wept lustily while oldBell broke into a rhapsody:

"Out from the desert safe and sound;Hooray! our boy and girl are found!"

But nobody paid any attention to his verses, either to laugh oradmire just then. After the cruel anxiety of the past hours therelief was too great for any of them to trust themselves to speak. 

But as Peggy and Roy--for of course our readers have guessed it wasthey--drew closer and their dust-covered features could be plainlyseen, a great shout went up from the butte. And in it mingled thevoice of Alverado, the unemotional. 

The girl and boy were fairly lifted from their ponies and carried intriumph into the camp. 

"Dig down into the stores, " ordered Mr. Bell, "Get out all thedelicacies we have been savin' for a big occasion. "

"We'll never have a bigger one than this, " declared Jimsy; "tell usall about it, Roy. "

"Oh, Peggy, you darling, is it really you?" cried Jess for the'steenth time, with brimming eyes. 

As for old Mr. Bell, as Jimsy observed afterwards, "he just wrappedpoetical circles round himself. You couldn't see him for rhythm. "

"Hullo, folks!"

The voice came suddenly from the shadows. It was Wandering William. In the general excitement everybody had forgotten him, and he, haddriven up in his red wagon unheralded. But the warmth of his receptionmade up for any temporary slight. In fact, after supper, when Royrelated their strange adventures, and told how, if it had not been forWandering William, they might never have reached the camp, WanderingWilliam's greeting reached an ovation. 

But while all this was going on one figure had remained crouched inthe circle of firelight--or, rather, just beyond it--whose dark eyeshad not for an instant left the face of Wandering William. Theinterested observer was Alverado. 

The Mexican puckered his brow as be gazed as if trying to recallsomething. But the effort seemed to be in vain, for at length hearose and, unnoticed, strode moodily off toward the ponies, whichhad been tethered high on the hillside and out of sight of the camp. 

He was gone but a few minutes before he came bounding back into thecamp. 

"The ponies! The ponies are gone!" he shouted at the top of hislungs. 

In an instant everybody but Aunt Sally and old Mr. Bell was upon hisor her feet. 

"Gone!" The exclamation came like a dismayed groan. 

"Yes, gone! Every one of them! The lariats have been cut. Ah, theladrone, the cursed thieves! The--"

"Some of Red Bill's work, for a million!"

The exclamation fell sharp and clear from Professor WanderingWilliam's lips. The tones were so unlike his usual ones thateverybody looked up at him. But only for an instant; the nextmoment the professor had--dropped back into his pompous, drawlingway of speaking:

"It's a good thing we have a large supply of my wonder workingremedies with us, " he said; "they induce philosophy, smooth thethorny ways of life and make the old young and the young younger. "

Mr. Bell looked at him sternly for an instant, and then apparentlydecided that the man was a harmless fool, for with a quickexclamation he strode off toward his tent, which lay at somedistance from the camp. The others excitedly discussed the alarmingturn events had taken, while Aunt Sally showed strong symptoms ofhysterics. But Alverado, whose face had taken on a startledexpression at Wandering William's quick exclamation, darted to thelong-haired herb doctor's side. 

"I know you now, senor, you are--"

Wandering William caught the man's gesticulating hand with a graspof iron. 

"Not so loud, Alverado, " he whispered tensely, "the time isn't ripefor that yet. "

"But, senor, you will capture them, and--"

The Mexican's manner had grown deferential, but Wandering Williamchecked him with a glance from those keen eyes of his. 

"Don't mention a word of this, Alverado. I rely on you. "

"You can, senor. But hark! what is the matter with the Senor Bell?"

Evidently something serious was the matter with the mining man. Hecame bounding out of the dark shadows of the upper end of the canyonas the Mexican spoke. His face was black as thunder. 

"More villainy!" he exclaimed as questions came pouring in upon him. 

"Something else missing?"

It was Wandering William. His voice was as emotionless as if he hadbeen a phonograph. 

"Yes, I should say there was. The plans of the mine and itslocation as prepared for filing have been taken from my tent!"

"Stolen--oh!"

Peggy's voice quivered. 

"Stolen, " repeated Mr. Bell, "and undoubtedly by the same band ofscoundrels that cut the ponies loose, knowing that we could notpursue them. "

"But we can overtake them in an aeroplane. "

It was Peggy who spoke. Her bosom heaved and her cheeks burned redwith excitement. 

"True, my brave girl, " rejoined Mr. Bell, "but of what use wouldthat be? They have the papers and will file them. Without thepapers you could do nothing, and I have no memoranda to draw upfresh ones. "

"But in my pocket--I'm cutting no capers--I have a set of duplicatepapers!"

Old Peter Bell, triumphant and poetical, stepped forward, at thesame time drawing from his inner-coat pocket a bundle. It was theduplicate set which Mr. Bell had given Peggy to deliver to theformer hermit, and which, up to that moment, had been forgotten inthe excitement. 

"Thank heaven!" exclaimed Mr. Bell, snatching at them; "Peter, you're a brick. Hooray, now we have a chance to beat the scoundrelsat their own game. "

"You mean if we can file those papers first they stand good in law?"asked Roy. 

"That's just what I do mean, and I think that with the aeroplane wecan do it. "

"You can depend on it, Mr. Bell, that if there is a chance thosepapers get into Blue Creek first, " cried Peggy ablaze withexcitement. 

"But we can't start to-night. "

Roy's voice held a note of despair. 

"That's all right, my boy. You need a good rest anyway. Red Bill--ifit is his gang that has taken them--cannot get to Blue Creek for twodays anyway. If you start at dawn to-morrow you can outwit them. "

And so it was arranged. Roy and Peggy turned in early, while Jimsyworked all night getting the big monoplane in readiness. Byearliest dawn all was ready and a hasty breakfast eaten. Then themonoplane was stocked with food and water and everything was readyfor the dash across the desert. 

Peggy and Roy had slipped into their linen coats and donned theirhideous masks with the blue sun goggles, when a figure slipped up onthe other side of the chassis and clambered unobserved into thebox-like structure. It was not till half an hour later, when theywere dashing through midair, that the figure revealed itself. Thenthe form of Wandering William crawled from under a bit of canvasused as an engine cover, and in answer to the amazed exclamations ofthe young aviators said:

"You'll have to forgive me. It'll be a good ad for my business tobe able to say that Professor Wandering William has wandered alongthe aerial Pike. "

CHAPTER XXII

MAROONED ON THE DESERT

There was nothing to be done but to accept the situation, little aseither Roy or Peggy relished the eccentric "professor" for an aerialtraveling companion. Only Peggy remarked with withering scorn:

"I think you might have waited till you were asked, don't you?"

The professor's reply was characteristic. 

"My dear young lady, if I never sold anybody a bottle of my medicineexcept those that really wanted it I'd have a hard time gettingalong. "

Roy was on the point of exclaiming "Bother your old medicine, " whenhe suddenly recollected that had it not been for this queerpersonage they might not have been in the aeroplane at all. Instead--but Roy didn't care to think further along those lines. 

Far below them suddenly appeared a giant halo of light. It hungabove the desert, wheeling and gyrating about five feet above theglaring white of the alkali. 

"A halo, " remarked Professor Wandering William gazing over the edgeof the chassis. 

"A halo? Whose--Roy's?" inquired Peggy. 

"No, it is one of those halos peculiar to the desert, " was theprofessor's rejoinder; "it is caused by heat refraction or somethingof the sort. I recall I did read a lengthy explanation of itsomewhere once, but I've forgotten it now. "

"Does it portend anything?" asked Roy, turning round for a momentfrom his levers. 

"No. Not that I know of, at least--except that it's hot. "

"Good gracious, we don't need a halo to tell us that, " cried Peggy, and then regarding Professor Wandering William with that frank, straight "between the eyes" look, as Jimsy called it, Peggyremarked, "Do you know, Professor Wandering William, that you are avery odd person?"

"Odd, my dear young lady. How so?"

"Why at times you are quite different to--to what you are atothers, " stumbled Peggy lamely. It wasn't just what she wanted tosay, but as she told herself it expressed it tolerably. 

"Almost human sometimes, eh?" chuckled Professor Wandering Williamwith a very odd winkle of his gray eyes; "well, you are not thefirst person who has said that. "

To herself Peggy thought, "I'm sure that if he'd cut his hair andtake off that dreadful goatee he'd be quite good looking. And hiseyes, too, they twinkle and flash sometimes in a way very much outof keeping with his general appearance. " But Professor WanderingWilliam, seemingly quite oblivious to Peggy's frank gaze, washumming "Annie Laurie" to himself and gazing down at the flyingdesert as it flashed by below. 

"At this rate we'll be in Blue Creek long before those othervarmints, " he observed at length; "that is, if all goes right. Wonderful things these aeroplanes. Great scheme for selling patentmedicine. Why I could scatter my advertisements over a whole countyin a day's time if I had one of these. That is unless I scatteredmyself first. "

There was a sudden loud hissing sound from the motor. At the sameinstant the propeller ceased to revolve and the monoplane dasheddownward with fearful force. 

Roy worked at his levers desperately, while Peggy, white faced butsilent, clung tightly to the sides of the chassis. ProfessorWandering William did not utter a word, but his lips moved, as, froma pleasing rapid forward motion their course suddenly changed tothat fearful downward plunge through space. 

It seemed that in the molecule of time that intervened between thesudden stopping of the propeller and the moment that they reachedthe proximity of the ground that a whole lifetime flashed in frontof Peggy. "Is this the end?" she caught herself thinking. 

But it was not. Roy's skill averted that. He handled the disabledaeroplane so that as it struck the alkali its landing wheelssustained the shock. But even with all his skill he could notentirely ward off the shock. The monoplane struck the alkali in ashower of white dust that hurtled high above it like a breaking seawave. 

Peggy and the professor managed to hold on and resist the grindingshock, but Roy did not fare so well. Like a projectile from acatapult the shock flung him far. He came grinding down into thesand on one shoulder, ploughing a little furrow. Then he lay verystill, while Peggy wondered vaguely if she was going to faint. 

To scramble from the stranded machine was the work of an instant forthe erratic professor, and he extended his hand to Peggy. With asupreme effort she pulled herself together and accepted hisproffered help. But agitated as she: was, she did not fail tonotice a surprising fact, and that was that the professor's hair wason one side! The next instant he caught the girl's startled eyesfixed upon it, but in that space of time he readjusted it, so thathe appeared exactly as usual. But to Peggy the recollection of thatderanged hair was unforgettable. 

"It's--it's a wig!" she gasped to herself, and then, casting allother thoughts aside, sped to Roy's side. 

"Roy! Roy! are you badly hurt, dear?" she breathed, going down onher knees in the rough surface of the desert. 

The boy stirred uneasily and his eyes opened. 

"Oh, is it you, Peggy? I guess I was knocked out for a minute. It's my shoulder. Ouch! Don't touch it. "

The boy winced as Peggy's soft hand touched the injured member. 

"Allow me. I've got a little skill at surgery. "'

It was Professor Wandering William's voice, and Peggy caught herselfwondering that he didn't make some reference to his infallible boneset or wonder-working liniment. But he didn't. Instead, he kneltby Roy's side, and with a few deft strokes of his knife had cut awaythe boy's shirt and bared a shoulder that was rapidly turning a deepblue. 

Tenderly as a woman might have, Wandering William felt the wound. 

"Hurt?" he asked, as Roy winced, biting his lips to keep from cryingout under the agony. 

"Hurt?" echoed Peggy indignantly; "of course it does. "

Professor Wandering William looked up with an odd air of authorityin his keen eyes. 

"Please fetch me some water from the aeroplane, " he said, and Peggyhad no choice but to obey. 

Professor Wandering William, picking Roy up in his arms as if hewere a baby, instead of a 165-pound boy, carried him after her andlaid the injured lad out in the scant strip of shade afforded by theaeroplane. Then, with bits of canvas ripped from the cover whichhad served to conceal him when he entered the aerial vehicle, thestrange wanderer skillfully bathed and then bandaged the wound. 

"Nothing more than a bad sprain, " he announced. 

Roy groaned. 

"And just as I was going ahead at such tiptop speed, too, " hecomplained. "I won't be able to use this arm for a month the way itfeels. "

"Never mind, Roy, I can drive the aeroplane, " comforted Peggy. ButRoy was fretful from pain. 

"What can a girl do?" he demanded; "this is a man's work. Oh, it'stoo bad! It's--"

Suddenly the pain-crazed lad realized what he was saying and brokeoff abruptly:

"Don't mind me, sis. I'm all worked up, I guess. But if it hadn'tbeen for this delay we'd have beaten them out. And now--"

"And now the first thing to do is to see what ails this oldmachine, " said Professor Wandering William briskly. "Let me liftyou into the what-you-may-call-um, my boy, and make you ascomfortable as possible on this canvas. "

The professor skillfully arranged the canvas from which he had cutthe bandages, and making a pillow for Roy out of his own coat, helifted the lad into the chassis. 

"There now, you'll do, " he said, as his ministrations werecompleted. "And now, young lady, as you know more about this thingthan I do let's have a look at it and see what particular brand ofillness it is suffering from. "

A brief examination showed Peggy that the radiator--the intricatemesh-work of pipes in which the circulating water for cooling thecylinders is kept at a low temperature--was leaking, and that almostall their supply of water had leaked out. This had caused thecylinders of the motor to overheat and had stopped the aeroplane inmidair. 

"Bad--is it?"'

Professor Wandering William noted the despairing look on Peggy'sface as she discovered the cause of the stoppage. 

"As bad as bad can be, " the girl rejoined seriously; "it means if wecan't get water and something to stop that leak with that we can'tgo on or go back. We're stuck right here. "

"Phew!" Wandering William's lips puckered in a whistle. "I shouldjust say that is bad. "

He looked about him. On every side stretched the dazzling whitealkali, with here and there a little dust devil dancing as if inmockery at their plight. 

On all that vast expanse they seemed the only living things, andWandering William knew the desert well enough to realize that it isnot good to linger on its treacherous sands. 

CHAPTER XXIII

BUD TO THE RESCUE

"I'm going to look for water!"

Wandering William spoke decisively after an hour or more of futileendeavors to start the motor with the little fluid they could sparefrom the water kegs. But even without the leaky radiator it wouldhave been an impossibility to cool the cylinders with the smallquantity they were thus able to command. 

"Look for water!" Peggy echoed the words blankly. 

In all that sun-blistered expanse it seemed to be an impossibilityto even dream of discovering a drop of moisture. And they neededbuckets full. 

Wandering William, perhaps deeming it wise not to strain theover-wrought girl's nerves further by keeping up the conversation, strode off. Apparently he wandered aimlessly, but in reality hiskeen, trained eyes were on the alert every instant. To the deserttraveler the most insignificant signs may betray the presence of thelife saving fluid. 

Peggy watched the strange figure till it vanished from view over alow rise, for although the desert seems flat on a superficial view, it is, in reality, no more level than the tossing sea. Rises andhollows make its surface undulating. 

In the meantime Peggy ministered to Roy as best she could. With aspare bit of canvas she made a shelter to keep off the blazing raysof the sun. Roy thanked her with a smile. The first sharp keenpain of his injury had gone, but he felt weak and dizzy. Presentlyhe begged for a drink of water, and Peggy, not daring to tell himhow low the supply was gave it to him. The boy was feverish fromhis injury, and almost drained the canteen of luke-warm stuff sheheld to his lips. Then he lay back with a satisfied smile. 

"Get the radiator fixed yet?" he asked presently. 

Peggy had told him that it would not be long before they were underway again. 

"Not yet, Roy dear. But don't worry about that. It will be fixedpresently. Suppose you try to go to sleep. "

The boy closed his eyes and tried to compose himself to slumber. Before long he actually did doze off and lay in that state while thelong hours dragged slowly by. Wandering William had not reappeared, and Peggy wondered in a dull, vague sort of sort of way if he everwould come back. Perhaps he had deserted them, she thought. But, even this reflection brought no poignant sensation of despair. Thegirl had sunk into a sort of apathy in which nothing' seemed tomatter much. Only she fairly ached with thirst. But Roy wouldawake presently and want water. The little they had must be saved forhim. 

And so the hours wore on and the sun marched blazingly across thesky. It was mid-afternoon, and Roy had not awakened, when Peggy wasstartled from her gloomy thoughts by a loud hail. 

"Hul-lo!"

Springing to her feet she looked across the desert. On the summitof a distant earth wave she saw the figure of Wandering William. Hewas gesticulating frantically and shouting something. He had hishands to his mouth, funnelwise, to make the sound carry better. 

What was it he was crying out? It sounded like--yes, it was:

"Water! I've found it! Water!"

Peggy hastily snatched up the two buckets with which the aeroplanewas equipped, and hurried toward the distant figure. She reachedWandering William's side in quicker time than she would have thoughtpossible, such was the stimulating effect of the glad news. Thestrange "professor" said not a word, but took her by the hand andbegan striding in great steps across the sandy dunes. 

They had walked about a quarter of a mile when they reached a spotwhere yuccas and prickly desert plants of different varieties grewthickly. At the bottom of this desolate little valley was a pool onwhich the sunlight shone glitteringly. It was shallow and warm, andthe color of rusty iron, but it was water. 

Taking the folding tin cup that Wandering William produced from oneof his pockets, the girl drank eagerly. Never had sparkling spring, water in the fruitful Eastern country tasted half so good as thattepid, dirty alkaline stuff that Wandering William had soprovidentially stumbled upon. 

"How did you find it?" gasped Peggy. 

Wandering William indicated a tumble down sign post a few paces off. To it was nailed board with sun faded lettering on it. 

"Read it, " commanded Wandering William. 

"'To the lost in the desert inferno, '" read Peggy, "'water is twentypaces to the west. '"

"If it hadn't been for the white soul of the man who put that upthere, " commented the "professor, " "we might have perishedmiserably. Heaven bless him, wherever he is. "

"Amen, " murmured Peggy. 

They filled the buckets, and staggering under their weight, Wandering William led the way back to the aeroplane. Roy was awakeand thirsty. He drank greedily of the turbid stuff they offeredhim. 

"And now, " said the professor, "let's get to work on that radiator. "

But try as they would, they could not stop the leak. Indeed, somuch water was wasted in their experiments that several more tripsto the pool were necessary. 

"Looks like we have run into the worst streak of hard luck I everheard of, " sighed Wandering William despairingly, after the failureof the twentieth trial to get the cooling system to hold water. "We've just got to plug that leak somehow, or--"

He didn't finish the sentence. There was no need for him to dothat. 

Suddenly Peggy, who had looked up from the baffling task for aninstant, gave a cry:

"Look! Look there! What's all that dust?"

"It's horsemen of some kind, and they're coming this way!" criedWandering William. 

As he spoke his hand slid to his hip, and he drew out his well-oiledand worn old forty-four. 

"Do you think that they are--that they are Red Bill's men?"

"Don't know yet. The dust's thick and the light's bad. "

"If they are?"

"Then we are in for a mighty bad quarter of an hour. Consarn theluck, everything seems to be going wrong at once. "

On and on swept the dust cloud, growing close with great rapidity. With what anxious feelings the strange herb doctor and the girlwatched its advance may be imagined. As for Roy, he lay on thefloor of the chassis unaware of what was transpiring without. 

There seemed to be several of the riders--a dozen at least. 

"What beats me is, if those are Red Bill's men what are they doingin this direction?" said Wandering William, a puzzled look creepingover his weather-beaten countenance. 

"Perhaps they have seen that the aeroplane is stranded and arecoming to destroy it, " hazarded Peggy. 

"Maybe, " rejoined Wandering William in a far-away voice. His eyesand mind were bent on the approaching cavalcade. If the riders werenot Red Bill's men it meant succor and aid. If they were theoutlaw's band, it meant-well, Wandering William did not care todwell upon the thought. 

"A few seconds will tell now, " he observed as through the dust cloudthe outlines of the horsemen became visible. 

All at once a shrill series of cries rang out:

"Yip-yip-yip-yee-ee-e-e-e-e-e-e!"

There was something familiar in the sound to Peggy. She leanedforward, straining her ears. Suddenly an active little broncoseemed to separate from the ruck of the riders and dashed forwardalone. On his back sat a familiar figure and not a beautiful one, but to Peggy no angel from heavenly regions could have appearedmore, beatific just then, for in the rider she had recognized theredoubtable Bud, the leader of the horse hunters. 

Bud swept off his sombrero as he dashed up, and was apparently aboutto make some jocular remark, but he stopped short at the sight ofPeggy's pale, anxious face. 

"Wa-al, what's all ther trouble hyar?" he demanded; "your skybronco foundered? Why hello, thar's Wandering William. Didn't knowas you was a sky pilot feller?"

"I'm not, I guess, " rejoined Wandering William quietly. "I wish Iwere, and then may be I could help out on this difficulty. "

"Wa-al, what's up?" drawled Bud, as his followers came loping up;"anything I kin do? We're on our way back to ther hills frum town, "he explained. "We caught more than twenty wild horses and took'eminter Blue Creek. One of ther boys sighted you away off or we'dhave missed yer I reckin. 

"Now, miss, I ain't one ter fergit a blow-out like thet yer gave usat Steer Wells. Jes say ther word an' if you like we'll tow thishere cloud clipper back inter town. "

"Let's see if we can't hit on a way of fixing it first, " saidWandering William; "you see, " he explained to Bud, "the radiator--"

"Hyar, hold on thar. Talk United States language. What's wrongwith this arrangement meter. 

"It's sprung a leak, " volunteered Peggy; "look here, you can see foryourself. The hole is tiny, but it's big enough to let out all thewater that we need to cool the cylinders. "

"Humph, " said Bud crossing his hands on the horn of his saddle andgazing abstractedly at the leak, "what you need is solder, " heannounced presently. 

"If we'd had any we'd been out of here long ago, " rejoined Peggy, asRoy, hearing the unusual noise, peered over the edge of the chassis. 

"Hullo, kid; what's biting you?" demanded the breezy Bud. 

"Guess I'm out of commission for a while, " rejoined Roy bravely. 

Peggy hastily explained the accident, and then, as she saw no harmin doing so, she gave Bud a hasty sketch of the events leading up totheir being marooned on the alkali. 

"So you're after that ornery varmint, Red Bill, are yer?" remarkedBud as she concluded; "wa-al I'll do all in my power to help you. I've bin a studyin' that thar leak while you was a talkite. Whatyou need is suthin' to stop it up. "

"Obviously, " said Peggy with a trace of annoyance in her tone. 

"Now don't git riled, fer I've hit on a scheme ter git yer out ofyer troubles. "

Bud shoved back his sombrero and gazed triumphantly at theastonished girl aviator. 

CHAPTER XXIV

WHAT CHEWING GUM DID

"But, Bud, how?"

"Easy enough. Hyar, " he exclaimed, looking back at the horsemenbehind him, "whar's that dude Chick Berry?"

"Here I be, Bud, " replied a small, freckle-faced cowboy with bluesilk ribbons on his shirt sleeves and other marks of the cowboy dudeabout him. 

"Got any of that thar gum you's always achewin' so as ter beagreeable to ther ladies?" demanded Bud. 

"Shore, Bud, " rejoined Chick, pulling off an embroidered gauntletand extracting a pink package from his breast pocket. 

"Wall, chaw some quick, and chaw it good. I need it. "

Chick's jaws worked overtime. Presently he handed a small wad ofglutinous gum to his leader. 

"Na-ow then, " announced Bud, dismounting, "I'm goin' ter show you ahurry up repair job. "

He squatted, cow-boy fashion, in front of the radiator, and withdeft fingers pressed the gum into the leak. 

"Let it dry a minute an' I'll bet ye that what-you-may-call-um willbe as tight as a drum. No, don't give me no credit fer ther idee. I seen a feller fix his gasoline gig that way one day when I wasdown in San Antone, "

At the expiration of a few anxious minutes, water was poured intothe radiator, and, to their immense relief, Bud's hastily contrivedbit of plumbing worked. The radiator held water perfectly and a fewmoments later Peggy started the engine. 

But at the first revolutions of the propellers a strange thinghappened. On the spot where, a second before, had stood a group ofinterested horse hunters, not one remained after the propeller hadwhizzed round a couple of times. They were scattered all over thedesert, their ponies maddened beyond all control by terror at thenoise and smoke of the aeroplane's motor. 

Bud alone managed to spur his pony close to the throbbing machine. 

"Good bye and good luck!" he shouted, and waved his hat. The nextinstant his pony swung round on its hind legs and dashed off to joinits terrified companions. 

With an answering wave of the hand Peggy threw in the clutch thatstarted the aeroplane forward, and after their long enforced delaythey once more took the air. But a day had practically gone--a dayin which the fight for the mine might have been lost. 

Never had Peggy urged an aeroplane to greater speed than she did thefast monoplane, at the wheel of which she was now stationed. Thedesert floor flew by beneath them in a dull blur. The roar andvibration of the powerful motor shook the car like a leaf. Wandering William said nothing, but he gazed rather apprehensivelyover the side from time to time. Also he might have been observedto clutch at his hair occasionally. 

"Can you see anything of the town yet?"

The professor leaned forward and shouted the question in Peggy'sear. He had to do so in order to make himself heard above the roarof the engine. 

Peggy shook her head, but motioned to a pocket in which were a pairof field-glasses. 

Wandering William understood, and raising them, held them to hiseyes. 

The sun was low and a reddish haze overhung the desert. Butpresently into the field of the binoculars there swung a-tall watertower. It marked the site of Blue Creek. 

"I've got it, " cried the observer; "swing off to the right a bit. "

Obediently the big flying thing turned and rushed through the airtoward the distant landmark. 

"I can see the place now, " cried Peggy. "Pray heaven we'll be intime. "

She tried to put on more speed, but already the big monoplane wasdoing all it could, and a more. Under their hood the cylinders weresmoking. There was a smell of blistered paint about the aerialcraft. But Peggy never slackened speed for an instant. With thetime that had been lost with the leaky radiator, she knew it waspossible that Red Bill's men were already in the town. 

If she had known that a speedy automobile had met the stealers ofthe location papers in mid-desert that afternoon and rushed theminto Blue Creek she might have given up in despair. But, she knewnothing of Red Bill's ruse, and imagined that the trip with thestolen papers had been made on horseback all the way. 

Fifteen minutes after the little settlement been first sighted theaeroplane soared roofs in a long, graceful swing, and then swoopedto earth in front of the National House. Cash and the usual groupof loungers came rushing out in huge excitement. 

"It's an airship! Come and see the airship!"

The cry spread through the town like wildfire. In five minutesquite a large crowd was swirling and surging about the machine andits anxious occupants. 

"Whar's the United States Assayer's office?" demanded WanderingWilliam, above the hubbub and excitement. 

"Why it's two blocks to the right an' down that alley, " volunteeredCash; "you're the second party as has bin askin' fer it ter day. "

Peggy's heart sank and Wandering William bit his lips. From thebottom of the chassis Roy demanded:

"Are we too late?"

"We don't know yet, Roy dear, " Peggy found time to whisper, andthen:

"Who else was looking for the assayer?"

"Feller in a big automobile. All dust-covered, too. Said he had aclaim ter file. "

 Wandering William actually groaned. But Cash went on speaking. 

"Funny, all this rush of business should come ter day. "

"How's that?" inquired Wandering William for want of somethingbetter to say. 

"Why 'cause ther assay office is closed up. Jim Dallam, as ran it, his mother is dead, an' he got leave ter go back East. Ther nearestassay office now is at Monument Rocks sixty miles east of hyar. "

Straw of hope as it was they clutched at it eagerly. There might bea train leaving within a reasonable time:

"Can we get a train there?" asked Wandering William eagerly bendingforward. 

"Reckon ye're jes' too late; one pulled out half an hour ago. "

"Did--did the man with the red auto catch it?" asked Peggybreathlessly. 

"Yes, mum--miss, I mean. He allowed he was going ter git thempapers filed or bust. "

The blow had fallen. Peggy sat numb and limp in the chassis. Butpresently the necessity of attending to Roy aroused her from herlethargy. Under her directions the boy was removed to a bed in thehotel and a doctor sent for. The physician lived in the hotel, sono time was lost before he was at Roy's bedside. He had finishedhis examination and had pronounced the injury painful, but notdangerous, when, without ceremony, Wandering William burst into theroom. 

"We can make it yet! We can make it yet!" he was shouting. 

The doctor looked up as if he thought he had another patient and amaniac to deal with. 

"I--I beg your pardon, " stammered Wandering William, "but this is avital matter to this young lady and gentleman. "

"Yes--yes, what is it?" asked Peggy eagerly. Her eyes burned witheagerness and suppressed excitement. Something in WanderingWilliam's manner seemed to say that he had found a way out of theirdifficulties. 

"I've made inquiries, " he repeated, "and I've found out that thetrain to Monument Rocks makes several stops. There's just a chancethat we can beat it in the aeroplane. "

"You can!"

Roy raised himself up in bed despite the pain. 

"I think so. But we must hurry. "

"Sis, do you mean you are going to try it?"

"Of course. We must. "

"Then go in and win, " cried the boy; "you can follow the tracks bythe lights and once you overtake the train the rest will be easy. "

The amazed doctor fairly dropped his case of instruments at thiswhirlwind dialogue. 

"But--what--why--bless my soul, " he gasped, but only the first partof his remarks was heard by Peggy. Followed by Wandering Williamshe dashed from the room and into the street. In front of the hotelCash was having a hard time keeping souvenir hunters from theaeroplane. But a pair of blue revolvers, like miniature Gatlingguns, acted as powerful dissuaders of curiosity. 

CHAPTER XXV

A RACE THROUGH THE NIGHT

 "All right. Stand clear, please!"

The aeroplane had been tuned up, and now, panting like an impatienthorse, it was ready to be off on its dash for Monument Rocks. Butthe crowd stupidly clustered about it like bees round a rose bush. The delay was maddening, but Peggy dared not start for fear ofinjuring someone. 

"Won't you please stand aside?" she begged for the twentieth time, but the crowd just as obstinately lingered. 

Suddenly an idea came to her. She cut out the mufflers andinstantly a deafening series of reports, like a battery of Gatlingguns going into action, filled the air. Tense as the situation was, neither Peggy nor Wandering William on the rear seat could keep fromlaughing as they saw the effect the bombardment of noise had. 

The inhabitants of Blue Creek literally tumbled all over each otherin their haste to get out of the way. Five seconds after thedeafening uproar commenced a clear path was presented, and, beforethe crowd could get used to the sound and come surging around again, Peggy started the aeroplane up. Amid a mighty shout it took the airand vanished like a flash in the gathering dusk. The race againsttime was on. 

Fortunately the telegraph poles along the right of way acted asguides, for, in the gathering darkness, the tracks were hardlyvisible. Peggy did not dare to fly too low, however, for it wasonly in the upper air currents that the monoplane could develop itsbest speed. 

But even with all her care she pressed the machine too hard, forhalf an hour after their departure from Blue Creek they had toalight to allow the cylinders to cool. Bud's makeshift stop for theleak, however, was acting splendidly, and Peggy mentally stored itaway as a good idea for future use. 

The delay was annoying to the point of being maddening, but therewas no help for it. To have taken the air with heated cylinderswould have been to court disaster. While they waited out in thelonely Nevada hills beside the single-track railroad, Peggy's mindheld a lively vision of the train speeding toward Monument Rocks andthe Assay Office, bearing with it the stolen papers carried by RedBill's agent. 

At last, after what seemed an eternity, they were ready to startonce more. Peggy lost no time in taking to the air. With her everycylinder developing its full horse power, the aeroplane sky-rocketedupward at a rate that made Wandering William hold on for dear life. 

"W-w-w-what speed are we making?"

The question was jolted out of the passenger. 

"About sixty, " Peggy flung back at him. 

"Then we ought to overtake the train. I understand it only makesforty-five even on the most favorable bits of road, and the tracksare pretty rough out in this part of the country. "

On through the night they roared. It was quite dark now, and Peggyhad switched on the search light with which the aeroplane wasprovided. It cast a white pencil of light downward, showing theparallel bands of steel. Somewhere ahead of them, on those tracks, was the train. But how far ahead? As yet no gleam of its taillights had come through the darkness. 

All at once Peggy gave a triumphant cry. 

"Look!" she cried. "It's the train!"

Far ahead gleamed two tiny red lights. They glowed through thedarkness like the eyes of some wild animal. But the occupants ofthe aeroplane knew they were the tail lights of the train that wascarrying the stolen papers to Monument Rocks. 

Peggy tried to put on still more speed, but the aeroplane was doingits best. But fast as it was going, it seemed to crawl up on thetrain at a snail pace. The tail lights still kept far ahead. 

But although the gain was slow, it was, steady. Before anotherdozen miles had been passed Peggy was flying above the train. 

In the glare of the furnaces as the fireman jerked the doors open, Peggy could see the engineer and his mate gazing up at them withsomething of awe in their expressions. Aeroplanes were not ascommon in the far West as in the East. 

Suddenly the girl noticed a figure emerge from the forward door ofthe front coach and clamber over the tender and drop lightly intothe cab. A sudden gleam from the fire door served to light hisfeatures. Peggy recognized him instantly as the tall "romanticbandit, " the one with the red sash. 

The girl saw him lean toward the engineer and thrust something intohis hand. It looked like a roll of bills. The next instant thetrain's speed perceptibly increased. It was all the aeroplane coulddo to keep up with it. 

"He's given the engineer money, to go faster, " exclaimed WanderingWilliam. 

The tall figure now crawled back on the tender and gazed upward. His hand glided back to his hip. The next moment there was a flash, and a bullet zipped wickedly through the air past Peggy's ear. 

"The coyote, he's firing at us!" cried Wandering William. 

Z-i-n-g!

Another bullet sang by the speeding aeroplane. Apparently thefireman and the engineer could not hear the shooting above the noiseof the flying engine, for they did not turn their heads. Presentlythe fireman began shoveling on coal at a terrific rate. Sparks andflame shot from the smokestack of the locomotive. They streaked thenight with fire. 

"Is he trying to kill us?" exclaimed Peggy as another shot wingedpast. 

"I hardly think he'd risk that, " rejoined Wandering William, "butwhat he's up to is almost as bad. He's trying to disable theaeroplane. "

But before another could be fired the train began to slacken speed. Ahead and below the aeroplane could be seen a cluster of lights. 

"Monument Rocks!" exclaimed Wandering William; "here's where we playthe hand out. "

Peggy, keeping a bright lookout for a good landing place, presentlyespied a sort of plaza in the center of the town. It wasbrilliantly illuminated by a number of arc lights and offered a finespot for landing. She decided to risk a quick drop and swung theaeroplane downward at a rapid gait. 

As the whirring of the propeller--like the drone of a giantlocust--resounded over the town, people came pouring out from housesand shops to witness the descent. The crowd gathered so quickly thatPeggy had difficulty to avoid hitting some of them. However, shemanaged to bring the aeroplane to a standstill without an accident. 

A local policeman came up as they stopped, and to him Peggyentrusted the machine. Followed by Wandering William she darted offacross the plaza and made for a cab stand immediately across it andjust outside the depot. As she rushed up to the solitary ricketyhack that was standing there and was about to step in a tall figurecame rushing out of the station. The train had just pulled in, andlong before its wheels had stopped revolving he had leaped from it. 

"Get to one side, " he shouted, grabbing Peggy's arm roughly andswinging her aside. "I guess I'm first on this deal. "

"What do you mean, " demanded Peggy angrily; "I had this cab first. "

"But now I dispossess you of it this way!"

The ruffian had his hand raised to strike when something happened. A lithe, muscular form glided under the upraised fist, and the nextmoment there was a sharp crack as the newcomer's fist collided withthe other's chin. 

He went staggering backward and fell in a heap on the sidewalk. 

A tall man with a broad brimmed hat came bustling up, followed by asmall crowd attracted from the aeroplane by the disorder. 

"Here, here, what's all this?" demanded the tall man in anauthoritative tone. "What does this mean?"

"That this man I've just knocked down is under arrest forparticipation in the Laredo stage robbery and for numerous othercrimes, including the larceny of some location papers he was aboutto file. "

The words came from an athletic young man who had felled Peggy'sassailant. The girl looked up at him. In the electric light therewas something familiar and yet strangely unfamiliar about hisfeatures, and his keen, kindly eyes. 

"Why, " exclaimed Peggy wonderingly, "it's--it's--"

"Wandering William, minus his wig and goatee, otherwise Sam Kelly, of the United States Secret Service, " rejoined the other with amerry laugh. "I guess I'll go out of the doctor business now, sinceI've nabbed one of the men I was after. Now then, you rascal, "addressing the "romantic bandit, " who had scrambled to his feet, "where are the rest of Red Bill's precious gang?"

"I don't know, " sullenly rejoined the prisoner. 

"Oh, yes you do; but first of all give me those papers. "

"What papers?"

"The ones you brought here to file in the Assay Office. "

"I don't know what you're talking about. "

"Yes you do. Come now, or I'll ask the sheriff to search you. "

With a very bad grace the outlaw dove into his pocket and handedover a bundle of papers. Wandering Will--we mean Detective SamKelly--took them and handed them to Peggy. 

"Those are more yours than mine, " he said; "we'll file them in themorning or at any time there's no hurry now. "

"Now then, " he resumed, turning to the tall outlaw whose arms wereheld by two of the sheriff's deputies, "are you going to answer myquestion, where is Red Bill and the rest of them now?"

"Where you can't reach 'em in time to queer their game, " came in avoice of sullen triumph; "they're at Jim Bell's mine picking up goldand silver. "

CHAPTER XXVI

BESIEGED--CONCLUSION

The sun rose redly and shone down into the arroyo on a group ofsleepless, anxious persons. As the tall bandit had triumphantlyannounced, Jim Bell's mine was besieged. Since the evening beforearmed horsemen had surrounded it, but so far the little garrison hadheld out. 

If Red Bill had had any idea that he was going to find Mr. Bell aneasy prey he must have revised his opinion. But he knew that it wasonly a question of time till he could starve him out and takepossession of the mine. He was unaware of the departure of theaeroplane for Blue Creek, otherwise he might have kept a better lookout. 

"I wonder if they got through?"

It was Mr. Bell who spoke, making a brave attempt at indifference tothe danger that hedged them in. 

Before anyone could reply a figure on horse-back appeared at thehead of the arroyo. It was Red Bill himself. On his ankle was abandage, but his amazing vitality had left no other traces of thebite of the rattlesnake. 

"Wa-al, Jim Bell, " he demanded, "for the third an' last time, airyou goin' ter give in peaceable? Ain't no sense in holding out. We've got your stock. We'll tap your water hole if we can strikethe vein and it won't take us long. We've got you whar we want you, an' if you've got ther brains uv a yearling calf you'll throw up thesponge and give us the mine. "

"Not while I can raise a hand to fight you, " rejoined Jim Bellboldly. "Ah! I might have expected some such trick!"

A bullet had whizzed past his ear and flattened itself on the rockbehind the mining man. If he had not caught the quick movement ofRed Bill's arm just in time the moment might have been his last. 

"That's just a taste of what you'll git if you try to stick it out, "bellowed Red Bill, and wheeling his horse he rode off. 

Two or three times that morning Jimsy tried the experiment ofraising a hat on a rifle barrel above the top of the little canyon. Each time a bullet pierced it, showing that the place was wellwatched. 

Miss Sally lay on her cot in her tent. The venerable New Englandlady was literally half-dead from fright. Alverado, sullen eyed andapathetic, strode up and down the canyon all day muttering threatshe was powerless to carry out. Jess, wide-eyed and white-faced, butbrave, did her share of the work and kept Jimsy and Mr. Bell cheeredup as well as she could. 

But the suspense of awaiting the return of Peggy and Roy was thehardest to bear. If they had gotten through safely and the paperswere filed, then, even if Red Bill captured the mine he could notwork it. A few nuggets would be his reward. But if the aeroplanehad been disabled or had reached Blue Creek too late, why then RedBill held all the cards. Mr. Bell had reasoned this out withhimself over and over again, while his brother sat, staring anddisconsolate, playing endless games of solitaire. 

It was past noon when Jimsy, who had taken an observation betweentwo rocks, which acted as a bullet-proof sentry box, announced thatthe forces of the outlaws seemed to be massing. 

"Looks as if they were going to make an attack, " he said. 

Mr. Bell clambered up and speedily confirmed the correctness ofJimsy's opinion. 

"Get everything ready, " he ordered; "there's just a chance we canstand them off. If not, we'll have to trust to their mercy. "

A clatter of hoofs sounded above the arroyo and the next instantseveral horsemen appeared. Without knowing just what he was doingJimsy, who had a rifle in his hands, pulled the trigger. He wasamazed to see the giant form of Red Bill totter and reel in thesaddle, and fall with a crash to the ground. The next instanthorror at the idea that he had killed the man seized on him. Hishands shook so that he almost dropped the rifle. 

But there was little time for reflection. The sight of theirleader's downfall seemed to drive the other outlaws to frenzy. Theypoured a leaden hail into the arroyo that must have exterminatedevery living thing in it if they had not sought shelter behind amighty mass of boulders. 

Hardly had they crouched there in temporary safety, before, farabove them, came a familiar sound. The giant droning of an enormousbeetle was what it seemed to resemble most. But Jess and Jimsyrecognized it instantly. 

"An aeroplane!" shouted Jess. 

"It's Peggy and Roy!" cried Jimsy the next instant. Looking upwardagainst the blue was outlined the scarab-like form of the monoplane. 

At the same moment a terrific trampling of horses' hoofs soundedabove. Shots and shouts rang out in wild confusion. 

"What can be happening?" gasped Jess. Even Aunt Sally, cowering inher tent, summoned courage to peek forth. The sight they saw was aninspiring one. Bud and his horse hunters were riding down theoutlaws in every direction. 

While this was going on, the aeroplane swung lower. From it therestepped as it alighted, not Roy and Peggy, but Peggy and a strangeyoung man whom nobody recollected having seen before. Without aword he bounced from the chassis as the aeroplane struck the ground, and, revolver in hand, set off in hot pursuit of Bud and his men, who, from horse hunters, had become man hunters. 

The outlaws, outnumbered and outridden, were fain to cry forquarter. With the exception of three who escaped, the whole bandwas rounded up and made prisoners. Red Bill, who proved to be onlyslightly wounded, was captured by Sam Kelly himself. 

The presence of the horse hunters on the scene at the opportunemoment was soon explained by Peggy, who spent a busy hour relatingall that had occurred since they left the camp. Roy, she explained, was still at the hotel in Blue Creek, but mending rapidly. She andthe detective had encountered the horse hunters as the aeroplane wason its return journey, and, guessing from the tall bandit's storythat the camp in the arroyo must be besieged, they enlisted theservices of Bud and his followers. 

There seems to be little more to tell of this portion of the GirlAviators' adventures. The mine, in the developing of which they hadplayed such striking parts, proved to be rich beyond even Mr. Bell'sdreams, and when additional claims were taken up each of the youngairship enthusiasts found that he or she had substantial shares inthem. 

The aeroplane line from the mine to the railroad, which had been Mr. Bell's original idea, proved to be a great success. Under Roy'stuition three young aviators, who were brought from the East, wereinstructed in managing their lines. Alverado, it will be recalled, recognized Sam Kelly as an old acquaintance during lawless times inMexico--he has been appointed to a position in the governmentservice, where he has done good work in aiding to rid the Big Alkaliof the rascals that formerly infested it. 

As for our young friends, when the aeroplane line was wellestablished, they returned to the East, as Aunt Sally firmly refusedto remain any longer in the far West, which she always scripturallyrefers to as a land of "the wicked and stiff-necked. "

But their adventures were by no means over, as perhaps might beexpected in the case of those who dare the air in fast flyingmachines. Their experience on the great Nevada desert was notdestined to be the only time that the Girl Aviators and their chumsproved their worth in seasons of danger and necessity. 

Stirring aerial adventures lay ahead of them, still more excitingthan the ones they had encountered while "On Golden Wings. " Whatthese were, and how our girls and boys acquitted themselves infacing and surmounting fresh difficulties and dangers--as well astheir lighter moments--will be related in full in the next volume ofthis series:

"THE GIRL AVIATORS' SKY CRUISE. "

THE END