iety in his
voice.

"Yes," remarked Bud, as he swung the lantern to and fro. "We didn't
get up here any too soon, fellows! Look, the water would be up to our
waists down there now, in the most shallow place, and it's got speed
like one of Christy Mathewson's curves!"

His cousins could see that he had not exaggerated the matter. The
waters were rising. Inch by inch, and foot by foot, the flood was
approaching the crest. Where the boy ranchers had sat in the almost
dry bed of the stream, to eat their lunch, there was now a mad race of
swirling waters. Where they had stood, before climbing up to the ledge
of safety, there was now three feet depth of water. And, as Bud had
said, it was flowing along so swiftly, like the stream which turns a
mill-wheel, that the boys could hardly have been able to keep their
feet had they been down in the current, or even on the weakest edge of
it.

But, as they were, they were safe for the time being. How long that
would be the case none could tell. They could see, in the gleam of the
one lantern saved in the mad rush, that the stream was coursing along
as it had never coursed before.

"There must be a powerful lot of water coming out of the reservoir
pipe," Nort remarked.

"Biggest ever, with all this water behind forcing it out," agreed Bud.
"I hope the pipe holds."

"It isn't as if the pipe were the only outlet," said Dick. "You know
the water can flow out of the tunnel above, and on either side of the
conduit."

"Yes," agreed Bud, "and dad had it put in that way on purpose, so if
ever a big flood did come, the tunnel could relieve itself without
ripping away the pipe and reservoir. There's a sort of spillway at one
side of the reservoir, you know."

The boys from the east had noticed this. Up to now no water had run
off through this auxiliary channel, but it was there for emergencies
such as now had occurred. And the water could find a vent and outlet
down the middle of Flume Valley, as, indeed, the surplus from the
reservoir itself did, when there was any.

"Well, it sure is queer, and we had a mighty narrow escape," remarked
Nort, as Bud leaned back again with the lantern. "But the fellows back
at the camp will be scared."

"I reckon they will," admitted Bud. "They'll see the water spouting
out, in a greater volume than ever before, and they'll imagine all
sorts of things have happened to us."

"Well, nothing has happened yet--except we've lost two perf