CHAPTER XX
THE PROFESSOR’S DILEMMA
Ned, Bob and Jerry were perhaps better fitted to attempt to solve amystery of this kind than most young men would have been. They hadtraveled considerably, and had been in strange situations. More thanonce they had had to do with secret passageways and queer tunnels whichthey had discovered only after long, tiresome search.
“But I never saw anything quite so plain as this,” confessed Jerry,as he and his chums rode around the sides of the V-shaped gulch. Itwas shaped like a V in two ways. That is, the entrance was of thatcharacter and the sides sloped down from the top; though because of thewidth of the floor, as it might be called, of the gulch the outline ofthe elevation would better be represented by the letter U.
The opening of the gulch was perhaps half a mile in width, and thetwo sides were a mile or more long. They came together, graduallyconverging, until they formed the inside of a sharp wedge.
“Now the question,” said Jerry, “is whether or not there is an openingin this V; and, if so--where?”
“Now you’ve said it!” exclaimed Ned. “Where? Beats any problem ingeometry I ever tackled.”
“Well, come on, let’s be systematic about this,” suggested Jerry.“There are three of us, and we can divide this gulch into three parts.”
The tall lad indicated some natural landmarks on the rocky walls of theravine. He would take from the entrance on the left to a third of theway down the side. From there, extending part way up the other side,and, of course, including the angle of the V, would be Bob’s portion.The remainder would be inspected by Ned.
“But Bob and I have done it all before,” objected Ned. “We didn’t finda thing.”
“And maybe we sha’n’t now,” admitted Jerry. “But it won’t be for lackof trying. Come on now, start.”
“And you can both meet me at the end of the gulch,” suggested Bob.
“Why meet you there?” Jerry asked.
“So you can eat,” was the ready response. “I’ve got the grub, you know.”
“Trust you for that,” laughed Ned. “But it’s a good idea all the same.”
The search began. The boys were sure the cattle had been driven up tothe entrance of the defile. In this they were supported by the cowboyswho agreed to the same thing. But there was a division of opinion as towhether the steers had been driven into the gulch and held there for atime.
There were objections to this theory on the ground that in some casespursuit had been made so soon after the raid that had the cattle beenheld in the gulch they would have been seen.
Of course, they might have been kept there for a little while, and thenconcealed, either further up the side of the mountain or among the lowfoothills. But searches in these places had failed to give any clue.
“The cattle come into this gulch,” was Jerry’s decision, “and we’ve gotto find out how they are taken out without being seen.”
The boys searched the rocky sides of the gulch thoroughly. They evenclimbed part way up, but all to no purpose. When Jerry and Ned met withBob in the angle, and began to eat, they were no nearer a solution ofthe mystery than at first.
“Well, I know one thing I’m going to do!” exclaimed Jerry, vigorously,as he washed down the last of his sandwich with a drink of water.
“What’s that?” queried Ned.
“I’m going up on top and look down. That’s getting a differentviewpoint, and that’s a whole lot, sometimes. Me for the top of themountain.”
“Well, maybe that wouldn’t be a bad idea,” conceded Ned. “Go to it!”
“But not to-day,” objected Bob. “I’m about tuckered out.”
“You’re getting too fat!” laughed Jerry. “But I’m in no hurry aboutit to-day. To-morrow or day after will do as well. And I have an ideawe’ll discover something.”
“It’s going to be a climb,” observed Bob, dubiously, as they rode outof the gulch on their homeward way and looked up at the steep sides ofthe mountain. Then they started for the house.
“Didn’t bring ’em back with you this time, did you?” sneered Hinkee Deeas the boys rode into the corral at the ranch.
“No, but we’re on their track,” replied Jerry, good-naturedly. “Andwe’ll have them in a few days now.”
“Well, give ’em my regards,” said the cowboy.
“Why, are the rustlers friends of yours?” asked Ned in drawling tones.
Hinkee Dee turned like a flash.
“What do you mean by that?” he cried.
“Just the same as you meant,” was Ned’s cool rejoinder; and, after amoment’s insolent scrutiny of the lad, Ned never flinching under thegaze, the assistant foreman swung away muttering.
“You an’ him don’t seem to pull together very well,” observed Gimp,leaping from his pony.
“That doesn’t worry me any,” said Ned.
The trip to the top of the mountain required a little more preparationthan the one on which the boys had fruitlessly examined the gulch.They could not make it in one day, and had to arrange to spend thenight out. But the weather was fine and they knew they would enjoy theexcursion, since they could take a shelter tent along.
“I’ll go with you,” declared Professor Snodgrass. “You are goingto remain out all night and that is just what I want. I am makinga special study of night moths now, and I imagine I may find a newspecies on the mountain top. I’ll go with you.”
“Glad to have you,” replied Jerry, cordially. Since arriving at theranch they had not seen as much of the scientist as they usually did ontheir travels.
“We’ll take the ponies,” suggested Jerry, in talking over the plans.“It will be easier for us and not too hard for them if we ride theslope slowly. We can even walk part of the way if it’s too steep. Andwith the animals we can easily carry what we need for the night camp.”
“I’m not a very good horseman,” objected the professor. “I had hopesthat you would go in the car or the airship.”
“The car couldn’t make the trip,” Jerry said. “Of course we could usethe airship, but I’m not sure about a good landing place up on thesummit. It looks as if it were pretty well wooded. I guess we can pickyou out a good, safe pony, Professor.”
“Lots of ’em,” Mr. Watson assured them.
“Well, if I fall off you’ll have to pick me up, boys,” and thescientist smiled, but somewhat apprehensively and dubiously.
However, the animal which was assigned to him proved so very tractableand gentle that Professor Snodgrass felt all his fears vanish, andafter a preliminary trial around the ranch buildings he said he feltthat he could go anywhere the boys went.
The tent in which they would sleep was in four sections, each ridercarrying one. The food, too, was divided into packets and this, exceptfor weapons, was about all they needed, save blankets that went withthe tent.
“Well, we’re off!” called Ned as he and his chums, with the professor,mounted their well-laden ponies and started away from the ranch.
“Good luck!” called the foreman.
“And don’t lose the rustlers when you start back with ’em!” added hisassistant. “Better hog-tie ’em or they might slip loose.”
Some of the boys chuckled at this sally of wit, but others showed bytheir attitude that their sympathies were more with the boys than withHinkee Dee.
The trail up the mountain was not an easy one, but the sure-footedponies made it very well indeed. At first Professor Snodgrass stoppedhis steed every few steps to get off to look for some bug he fancied hesaw, or to gather a specimen of a new plant or flower.
But Jerry pointed out to him that if thus delayed they would not reachthe summit in time to hunt any moths that night, and admitting theright of this the professor kept on with the boys.
“Just what do you expect to find when you get up there, Jerry?” heasked.
“I wish I knew,” was the answer. “But we’ve got to find somethingsomewhere to solve this puzzle.”
“That’s what,” agr
eed his chums.
The boys fully expected to get to the top well before noon, but thetrail was circuitous and presented accumulating difficulties as theywent upward, and finally the ponies and they, themselves, were so tiredthat they halted at noon, still several miles from the top, and atetheir lunch, giving the animals a breathing spell and a chance to cropwhat scanty herbage there was.
The remainder of the trip was worse than the first part as regardedgoing, and the sun was hiding behind a big bank of gorgeously coloredclouds when they topped the last rise and reached the summit. Theyfound themselves on a wide, level stretch of rich land, extending formiles, and parallel to the next mountain range, there being a valleybetween. But the boys could not see into this yet, as night was comingon and the shadows lay deep in the valley.
“Can’t do any exploring to-night,” decided Jerry. “We’d better makecamp at once and turn in, so as to be up early. Then we can put in afull day.”
“Good idea!” exclaimed Bob. “I’ll get a fire going right away. Ibrought along some bacon and eggs.”
“Good old scout!” yelled Ned.
The tent was soon erected, the fire was merrily burning, the horseseagerly cropping the sweet grass, and the aromatic smell of bacon andcoffee filled the air.
“I’ll sleep like a top to-night,” declared Jerry as he and the otherswrapped themselves up in their blankets a little later and went intothe tent.
“I’ll sleep like two,” said Bob.
“No wonder--you ate so much!” joked Ned.
Probably their sound slumber accounted for the fact that the boys didnot hear Professor Snodgrass leave the tent. And then he had told themhe intended to get up in the night and go out with a lantern to huntfor moths that would be attracted by the light. In accordance with thisplan they had given him an outside place so he would not disturb them.
Just when he went out the boys did not know, but in the middle of thenight they were awakened by a cry.
“Boys! Boys! Help! They’ve got me!” was shouted in distressed tones.
“It’s the professor!” exclaimed Jerry, sitting up suddenly.
“That’s what! And he’s in trouble!” added Ned. “We’ve got to help him!”
They arose and rushed from the tent into the darkness only faintlyilluminated by the dying blaze of the campfire.