excitement."

"How?" asked Nort and Dick eagerly.

"Tell you later," promised Bud.

They rode on, talking over old times and planning new ones, and as the
shadows began to lengthen they rode down into a triangular valley, at
one end of which a rude dam could be noticed, while, scattered over the
green carpeted floor, were hundreds of grazing cattle.

"Say, this is some slick place!" cried Dick.

"The best ever!" affirmed Nort. "And is this where we are to camp and
ranch it?"

"Right here," declared Bud. "Course we haven't any ranch house yet.
But we've got a tent--there it is," and he pointed to a white canvas
shelter not far from the dam.

"A tent! Oh, boy! better and better!" yelled Dick, as he urged his
pony forward.

As the three boy ranchers neared their headquarters, represented by two
or three tents grouped together, there emerged from among them the
figure of a man on horseback.

"There's old Buck Tooth," said Bud.

"Who?" asked the eastern cousins.

"Buck Tooth--a Zuni Indian that dad picked up somewhere. He's one of
the best herd-riders you'd want, and he and I are great friends.
Wonder what's the matter, though? He acts as though something had
happened."

Bud pulled rein, to allow a better observation of the figure that was,
obviously, riding out to meet him. Nort and Dick also halted their
ponies. But Buck Tooth rode to meet them at great speed, sitting in
the saddle as though part of it and the horse. He rode in a manner
that made Nort and Dick envy him.

"What's the matter, Buck?" asked Bud, as soon as the Indian was within
hailing distance. And then Nort and Dick could see why he was called
that. A large, yellow-stained tooth protruded from his mouth, giving
him not exactly a pleasant expression.

"What's wrong, Buck, you ride so _pronto_ like?" demanded the young
western ranch boy.

"Heap wrong!" came the answer in guttural tones. "You no shut off
water in pipe; eh?"

"Shut off the irrigation water? I should say not!" cried Bud. "Why,
has anyone?"

"Water no come! All gone! No run splash-splash now!" and Buck Tooth
waved his hand toward the reservoir made by a dam that curved out in a
half circle from the wall of natural rock.

"The water gone!" cried Bud. "This is strange! Let's have a look!"

He and his cousins rode at top speed to the reservoir that had
reclaimed Flume Valley from the semi-desert it had long been.
Dismounting, they climbed the slope and saw