CHAPTER XXIV
OFF TO GOLDEN PEAK
"Well, it's no use, boys, I guess we may as well go back."
"And give up the chase?"
It was Mr. Thornton who spoke first, and Billy who questioned him. They had been on the trail since early morning, seeking to find the man who had disappeared from their ranch at the same time as did the valuable document, and now, at sunset, they had come to a halt, unsuccessful.
All day they had followed the trail of the fugitive—or rather, they had tried to follow it—for they lost it a short time after leaving the ranch, and not even the most skilful of the plainsmen or cow punchers could pick it up again.
"Yes, Billy," resumed the ranchman, "that's the only thing to do, I guess. There's no use keeping on after a forlorn hope. We can't get that fellow to-night."
"Then you're not going to give up altogether; are you?" asked Frank.
"No, indeed, but I'll have to adopt other tactics now. They have forced my hand, so to speak, and I'll have to do something I have been contemplating for a long while, but which I hesitated to do because it might bring matters to a crisis. Now I shall have to go ahead whether I want to or not."
Mr. Thornton did not say what it was he intended to do, and as he seemed so thoughtful and dispirited after the unsuccessful chase, the boys forebore to ask him.
"We can hardly get back to Double X ranch to-night," observed Andy, as the men began to draw in from the big circle in which they had stretched out to try and pick up the trail.
"No, we won't try it," decided the ranchman. "We'll camp in the open. I rather thought something like this would happen, so I told Archie and Matt to bring along some grub. You boys have your blankets, haven't you?"
"Yes, we don't go far without 'em," answered Billy, and this was so, for strapped at the backs of the saddles were the means of making an improvised bed on the plains. Some of the cowboys had things to eat, while some carried materials for making coffee.
"We'll just camp here," decided Mr. Thornton, as they came to a place where a little stream afforded water for man and beast, and where the grass offered good grazing for the horses.
Saddles were thrown off, and after the steeds had been given a hasty rub-down with dried grass, the fire was made, and supper, such as it was, was soon under way.
The meal, not elaborate by a good deal, was much enjoyed by all, especially by the Racer boys, to whom this sort of life was quite novel.
Then, after supper, they sat about the fire, listening to the stories told by the cattlemen, or discussing the events of the day.
The night passed without incident, though Frank and Andy found it rather hard to drop off to sleep as easily as did the others. The movements of the tethered horses, the occasional call of an owl, the howl of a wolf, or the barking of a distant colony of prairie dogs, were all new and strange to the Easterners. Yet ere long they found themselves in dreamland.
"Well, there's only one thing to do," announced Mr. Thornton, at breakfast the next morning.
"What's that?" asked Billy.
"I'm going to finish that dam, and make the lake," the ranch owner said decidedly. "I'll beat those fellows at their own game. They have stolen my legal authority to proceed, but I'll go ahead and complete the dam, and fight it out in the courts anyhow. If possession is nine points of the law, then I'm going after those nine points. I'll flood the district and when they want what they claim is their property—but which isn't—they can look for it at the bottom of the lake. I'll finish the dam at once."
"And cover Golden Peak?" asked Billy.
His uncle laughed.
"What harm will it do?" he asked. "All that's there are some worthless yellow rocks, and those fellows are crazy to think there'll ever be a treasure found there. Yes, I'm going to flood it."
Billy and his chums looked at one another. There was the same thought in all their minds. They must go to Golden Peak before it was covered with water.
"I'm going on in to Sageville," continued Mr. Thornton, when the saddling-up had been completed. "You boys had better go on to the ranch with the others. Tell your aunt," he said to Billy, "that I'll be home as soon as I can. And also tell her what I'm going to do. I'm going to hire the biggest gang of men I can find, and put them to work on the concrete dam. We can fill in the gap in a week, and back up the water. Then I'd like to know where Shackmiller and his gang will be?"
He galloped off, and in due time the three boys and their escort of cowboys were at the ranch again. Mrs. Thornton was not a little surprised at the news they brought, and she had also been alarmed at their absence all night, but she had become somewhat used to the manner in which things were done in the breezy West.
The boys planned to go on a trip to Golden Peak the next day, but decided to go hunting instead, and, as Billy pointed out, they had over a week before the waters would rise and cover the hill.
Meanwhile Mr. Thornton carried out his plan. A big gang of men assembled at the dam, and soon began the work of finishing it. It was decided to build up the concrete work, and set the many water gates. Then, when the cement had set, all that would be necessary to do would be to close the gates against the river, the water would begin to back up, and the lake would form.
A search had been made for the missing man, but he had not been found. The men who had been on guard at Golden Peak had also disappeared, and the place was in possession of the forces of the ranch owner.
"I guess they're not going to trouble you," said Frank, one day.
"I'm not so sure of that," replied Billy's uncle. "This may be the calm before the storm. I'm always suspicious when such men lay low and do nothing. They're preparing for a big move, I have no doubt; but I'll be ready for them. They've got one advantage on their side, in possessing that paper, but I'll have the dam built and the lake over their property before they can act, I hope."
Men guarded the dam day and night. In fact the work went on at night, by means of the light of flaring gasoline torches.
The gap was nearly closed. The gates were all in place, and only a few more yards of concrete and rubble needed to be dumped in.
"If you fellows are going to get the treasure of Golden Peak you'd better get a move on," said Mr. Thornton, dryly, to Billy and his chums one night.
"Why?" they asked. They had been so busy having a good time, hunting and riding over the prairie, that they had almost forgotten about it.
"Because," answered the ranch owner. "I expect to close some of the gates to-morrow, and soon flood the region. Golden Peak will be out of sight in two days more."
"Then we'll explore it to-morrow!" cried Billy. "Hurray, boys! Off for Golden Peak and the treasure—if it's there!"