Then, after leaving a little of their pocket money in the village candy store in return for some jujube paste and everlasting suckers, they made their way back to the cottage on the beach, chattering as well as they could with their mouths full of candy.
"It'll be dandy to go out on the ranch," mumbled Sammy; "but we surely will miss some of the fun we've had around here this Summer."
"That's so," replied Bob, a little regretfully. "I wonder if there'll be any place to swim out there."
"There must be plenty of water somewhere around," said Frank, thoughtfully. "I've read a lot about prairie schooners, and, of course, they can't sail without water."
"Listen to him!" shrieked Bob. "Why, you goose, don't you know that prairie schooners are only big wagons?"
"I don't believe it," said Frank, stoutly.
"Bob's right," declared Sammy. "I saw a picture of one a little while ago. It had four horses hitched to it and a man was driving."
"Maybe that was another kind of schooner," suggested Frank, though weakening somewhat before the positive statements of his chums. "Anyhow, there must be ponds or lakes or rivers of some kind. How could the cattle get water if there wasn't?"
"Maybe we'll run across some underground river that will lead to a robber's cave or something," broke in Sammy, eagerly. "You know, the kind that's running along all right and then suddenly sinks down in the ground and people think that's the end of it until they find it starting up again a good many miles away. But what's it been doing while it's been out of sight? Running through a cave of course. Robbers choose just that kind of place——"
"Oh, forget it, Sammy," broke in Bob with a tired expression. "You're thinking of nothing all the time but robbers and mysteries."