“He wasn’t just clear about that. I guess that is what made father doubtful. But he was very persuasive.”
“Say!” interrupted Nat. “What about this water? If there is so much of it on the Hardin place, doesn’t it flow somewhere?”
“That’s a curious thing,” Dorothy said, quickly. “It seems this water-supply is a stream called Lost River.”
“Yes. There’s more than one like it out there, too. I guess this particular Lost River has its rise on the estate somewhere. And without flowing beyond the boundaries of the land Colonel Hardin has left to us, it dives right down into a crack in the earth again.”
“Crickey!” exclaimed Nat. “Some river! I want to see that.”
“I’ve read of such things,” said his brother.
“It must be wonderful,” Dorothy said. “You see, they want father and Aunt Winnie to let them turn the water into another channel. From that channel they will pipe water to Desert City, while the surplus will be carried by open ditches to the irrigated farms.”
“And how about the water supply for the cattle pastures?” demanded Ned, who, from the first, had shown a deep interest in the cattle end of the business in hand.
“Oh, they say there is water in abundance,” Dorothy answered.