rs found their cow-puncher friend dancing wildly about on the edge of the mesa, in imminent peril of tum

ack, regarding the antics of the usua

ok at the stoc

ave been calculated to excite the cow-puncher. One Spot, Two Spot and Three Spot were tearing round and round at the end of their tet

l he might be. The desert was as empty as ever, and there was no sign of an

he matter with 'em? They ain't actin' u

," said Jack. "Maybe it was thos

a knowin' wink, as much as ter say: 'Go ahead; I know you won't hurt us.' No, siree; it'

he other side of the mesa. L

ndings on that side failed to reveal any explanation for the animals' sudden terror. For all t

r sooner you git them thar measurements a-measured, and we're hiking out of this neck

something scared th

in, son. It takes something with hoofs, horns and red fire about i

ing till after dinner," laughed Jack; "al

t long in being prepared, thanks to Coyote Pete's skill as a camp cook. Seated over their dinner, the main topic of conversation was naturally the

' said the professor finally, by way of changi

er than this from the Haunted Mesa," said Pete, stretching himself out, and lighting

may-call-ums ever managed to di

h the Flying Z outfit tole us oncet that thar was a subterranean river flowed under here, and that once upon

?" asked the professo

West, either. There's one in Californy that flows unde

ean rivers in this part of the world, but I have never had the opportunity to e

; I don't jest rightly recollect where," said Pete carelessly, a

r is to anybody, anyhow," he went on. "If

ys lay about with their chins propped in their hands in intent attitu

that it was to this river that those drawings of boats

my boy," agreed t

it," said Ralph wistfully, poking at the ground, a

h. I jes' mentioned that a lying, whisky-drinking old Injun had sprung a pipe-dre

l way of talking. The professor joined in, too, for none realized better th

ls him, he would spend the best part of his life on wild-goose chases. Why, the Indians of the Mojave desert in California can even tell a circumstantial s

r tried to find

rejoinder, "but so far no trace has ever been found of it, and it is, n

f," protested Pete. "I jes

of the interesting mesa, and the boys, on their own account, conducted a search f

they prepared to quit. "Just think, what a proud bunch we'd have been if we

Walt. "I tell you, Jack, I don't want anything to do w

lacking in you," laughed Jack. "

o?" asked Wa

Ralph, going off into a roar of l

tches were assigned, as usual, the latter part of the night guardianship falling to Coyote Pete and Jack once more. When, soon after midnight, Walt and Ralph Stetson aro

long the

ote Pete, as he and Jack shouldered their rif

anything to report, and in this way they kept up the night watch for an hour or more. They had met for the sixth time by the tents containing t

n readiness and followed closely by Jack, he tore ar

en tethered, they came upon a spectacle which, for a moment, caused them to