ed up and looked with
tear-blurred eyes out over the waste of desert to the west. Never a
day passed that he had not thought of the splendid horse; but this
moment, with its significant memory, was doubly keen, and there came a
dull pang in his breast.

"Diablo will never drink here again!" muttered Belding.

The loss of Blanco Diablo, though admitted and mourned by Belding, had
never seemed quite real until this moment.

The pall of dust drifting over him, the din of the falling water up at
the dam, diverted Belding's mind to the Chases. All at once he was in
the harsh grip of a cold certainty. The blast had been set off
intentionally to ruin his spring. What a hellish trick! No Westerner,
no Indian or Mexican, no desert man could have been guilty of such a
crime. To ruin a beautiful, clear, cool, never-failing stream of water
in the desert!

It was then that Belding's worry and indecision and brooding were as if
they had never existed. As he strode swiftly back to the house, his
head, which had long been bent thoughtfully and sadly, was held erect.
He went directly to his room, and with an air that was now final he
buckled on his gun belt. He looked the gun over and tried the action.
He squared himself and walked a little more erect. Some long-lost
individuality had returned to Belding.

"Let's see," he was saying. "I can get Carter to send the horses I've
left back to Waco to my brother. I'll make Nell take what money there
is and go hunt up her mother. The Gales are ready to go--to-day, if I
say the word. Nell can travel with them part way East. That's your
game, Tom Belding, don't mistake me."

As he went out he encountered Mr. Gale coming up the walk. The long
sojourn at Forlorn River, despite the fact that it had been laden with
a suspense which was gradually changing to a sad certainty, had been of
great benefit to Dick's father. The dry air, the heat, and the quiet
had made him, if not entirely a well man, certainly stronger than he
had been in many years.

"Belding, what was that terrible roar?" asked Mr. Gale. "We were badly
frightened until Miss Nell came to us. We feared it was an earthquake."

"Well, I'll tell you, Mr. Gale, we've had some quakes here, but none of
them could hold a candle to this jar we just had."

Then Belding explained what had caused the explosion, and why it had
been set off so close to his property.

"It's an outrage, sir, an unspeakable outrage," declare