ief it was to the boy ranchers when they heard that voice.

"Slim!" cried Bud. "Slim Degnan!"

"That you, Bud?" called the foreman of Diamond X ranch, as he
recognized the voice of his employer's son, while Bud, in turn, sensed
whom the looming figure was.

"Sure!" Bud joyously answered. "And Nort and Dick are here! Say,
what's the matter with our water? Is there a stoppage at the dam?"

"Nary a stop, but your dad got a telephone from your side-partners at
the valley camp, saying you'd started through the tunnel to see what
caused the shut-off. I happened to be over near Square M, seeing if I
could get on the track of that cattle epidemic, and they relayed your
dad's message on to me. So I hit the trail for here."

"What was dad's message?" Bud wanted to know.

"Why, he said you, and them tenderfeet---- No, I'll take _that_ back!"
Slim hastened to say as he recalled all that Nort and Dick had done.
"Anyhow, he said they shouldn't have allowed you to come in the tunnel
alone, and he asked some of the men, from this end, to go in and see if
they could locate you."

"You found us," said Bud.

"Well," resumed Slim, "I just got here, heard the news and I started
in. Some of the others are coming, but I guess we don't need to make
any search. You're here!"

"And more by good luck than good management," asserted Dick.

"How's that?" asked Slim, as they all started for the opening at the
river end of the tunnel, where daylight dimly showed.

"Why, when we started in at the other side the stream was dry,"
explained Bud. "There wasn't a drop coming through the pipe into the
reservoir, and we left, early this morning, to see what the trouble
was. When we got half way through the stream suddenly began flowing,
and there was a regular flood. Only that we found a ledge to climb up
on, we'd been drowned!"

"As bad as that!" gasped Slim.

"Every bit!" Dick asserted.

"But tell me," went on Bud, "did the water stop at the river end, Slim?
Was there any stoppage at the dam or pipe?"

"Nary a stop, Bud," Slim answered. "They told me, when I started in,
that the water had been flowing all night, as usual, and they didn't
see why you claimed there was none at your end."

"By Zip Foster! But there's something mighty strange here!" cried the
boy rancher.

"You intimated good and plenty that time!" declared Slim as he and the
boys reached the river end of the tunnel, where the intake pipe took
the water from