liest, mysterious death on Dot and Dash took place many years ago,
before poison gas in war was thought of. I won't deny that this bunch
back there," and he nodded in the direction of Smugglers' Glen, "I
won't deny but what they may be usin' war gas. But it wasn't so years
ago.".

"Then it looks," spoke Dick, "as if these men had some object in
keeping us out of the glen."

"That's it!" cried Billee. "There's something up there they don't want
us to find out."

"Maybe it's the secret Old Tosh has of makin' sarsaparilla," said Snake.

"No," objected Dick, "I don't believe the old man is mixed up in this
at all. He was in the cave, that's sure, but I think this bunch of
rascals with their poison gas have deposed him and taken possession for
their own ends."

"And what those ends are it's for us to find out," suggested Nort.

"Sure!" cried his companions.

"We'll get gas masks and make another attack!" added Snake.

"I wonder what we'll find?" mused Dick.

"Bud could have told if they hadn't knocked him out," suggested Nort.
"He says he saw them pounding rocks and digging in the sides of the
cave. They were after something besides cattle, that's sure."

"Diamonds!" some one said.

"That's been mentioned before," remarked Dick. "It is out of the
question, I think, but it may be something always associated with
diamonds."

"What's that?" exclaimed several.

"Gold, maybe," was the quick answer, and into the eyes of every man
there came a sudden, new gleam.

"By golly!" cried Yellin' Kid in his loudest tones, "I'll bet you're
right! There's a gold mine in that cave and those fellers want to keep
it for themselves! Whoopee! Let's get them there gas masks and rustle
the whole bunch over the border. Then we'll have the gold for
ourselves! Come on!"

CHAPTER XX

GLITTERING YELLOW

Such excitement followed the Kid's outburst that the very horses seemed
imbued with it. The cowboys, keeping well out of the way of that
floating, white cloud of gas--more or less poisonous, it was not to be
doubted--had mounted their animals and were on their way, by a
roundabout trail, to the ranch house.

"Gold!" muttered Snake. "Do you really think there's gold in that
cave?"

"It would not be beyond the bounds of possibility," Dick replied. "I'm
not a geologist, and I don't know anything about mining. But the west
is the home of gold, and so is Mexico. We're not far from Mexico.
What's to prevent a le