hem,
though. It was Delton."

"And do you know what he was doing there?" Bud asked with a quizzical
smile.

"What?"

"Chasing me! I found the water hole, too, and something else and this
Delton dragged me for miles and locked me in a room. Then I got out
and his gang followed me to the water hole, where I lost them."

"Hey, take it easy! Start from the beginning. Let's hear it, Bud."

Nort and Dick listened eagerly as Bud once again told the tale of his
capture.

CHAPTER XVII

A NIGHT OF WAITING

"The old rascal!" Nort exclaimed after Bud had finished. "So that's
what they were doing at the water hole? If we had known that we would
have taken a chance and rushed them."

"Just as well you didn't," Bud declared. "Wouldn't have gained
anything by it. And anyway, we don't want to upset their plans for
to-morrow night. The Kid, here, thinks they'll go through with the
idea."

"Don't be too sure," warned Dick. "It may never come off, since they
know Bud overheard them planning."

"Yes, but don't you see they can't get word to the others in time?" the
Kid insisted. "They can't call it off. The other end of the smuggling
line has already made plans that they can't break, so this end has to
go through with their scheme. At least that's the way I look at it."

"Seems reasonable," Dick agreed. "But just the same I think it's
better to be prepared."

"Naturally. What did you find out about the sheep-man, Dick?"

The latter spoke of one tentatively engaged and told the Kid his new
horse would be sent over in a day or so.

The remainder of the day went quickly. When evening came the boys were
excitedly making plans for the following night. After "chuck" they
gathered around the table in the sitting room and discussed ways and
means. The Kid was in favor of drastic action.

"No, we've got to go slowly," Dick cautioned. "This isn't strictly our
affair, you know. The government is interested in it. And it's
anything but a joking matter. The other adventures we had--at Spur
Creek and in the desert--were our own concern entirely. This is
different. Hawkins hasn't said so, but I think it means a lot to him
if we aid in capturing the smugglers."

"Thought you were out here to herd sheep?" Billee Dobb put in.

"We were--at first. But there's no use trying to dodge the issue--from
now on until this business is finished, we have one job on hand--to
help stop Chink smuggling. The sheep c