"Well, she isn't," spoke Bud, a bit shortly.
"So I see," came the drawling answer, and it was followed by a faint tinkling of glass.
Bud started, and tried to pierce the night shadows. But all he saw was the figure of the strange cowboy becoming more and more indistinct. Bud was just going to say something when he was halted by the voice of Nort.
"I have an idea!" exclaimed the eastern lad.
"What is it?" asked his brother. "Anything to do with this?" and he waved toward the reservoir which was strangely still, now that the water no longer bubbled into it from the pipe.
"Yes," went on Nort. "Why not investigate and see where the stoppage is, Bud?"
"Investigate what?"
"The pipe line—the old underground water-course."
"You mean go through the tunnel?" Bud asked.
"Sure! Why not? You say it's big enough all the way through, and the water itself doesn't occupy much of the bottom. We could walk it in a day, easy!"