"You can search me!" was the frank answer. "I didn't look the horse over after he died, to see what bit him. As for me, I don't know what ailed me."
"Maybe the old man shot you and the horse," suggested Nort.
"I wouldn't swear the horse hasn't a bullet in him, for I didn't examine him," stated Sam. "But I didn't hear any gun, and I know I got no holes in me."
"Then it was bad water!" said Snake.
"What's that?" Sam inquired, not comprehending.
"You and your horse must 'a' drunk from some poisoned spring," went on Snake, explaining how this theory had been advanced among his companions to account for the mysterious deaths at Dot and Dash.
"Bad water; eh?" murmured Sam. "Well, I certainly did take a drink at a spring, and so did the horse. But it's a spring I always have patronized, so to speak, and it's mighty queer if it would be all right yesterday and poison to-day. Mighty queer!"
"The old man——" began Nort.
"He wasn't nowhere near the spring," interrupted Sam. "I don't believe you got the right dope."
"Well, there's something queer around here, that's sure," declared Bud
Merkel, "and we're here to find out what it is! We'll be glad to have
you stay and help us solve the mystery. We need some ranch hands and
I'd be glad to take you on."