"Yes, I guess this water's all right," Bud finally admitted. "As you say, a horse won't touch bad water. I'm going to sample some myself."
This he did, and he and his cousins found the stream sweet and refreshing. There was no taint to it and they drank their fill as did their ponies.
"Well, what next?" asked Nort, as he sat easily in the saddle, while he watched the water dribbling from the champing jaws of his steed. "Shall we go back and get that horse doctor, and then bury the dead cows?"
"Not yet," answered Bud. "I want to ride up that defile and see what's at the other end." He indicated a long, narrow valley leading up into the wooded and rocky hills.
"What's the idea?" asked Dick.
"Oh, just a notion," Bud replied. "That would make a good hiding place for rustlers," he added.
"It's dark, and silent and secret enough," agreed Dick as they turned their horses into the defile. "Regular smugglers' glen!" and he chuckled at his suggestion.
"We can call it that," assented Bud. "Come on, then, let's see what we'll find in Smugglers' Glen."
They rode on into the narrow, sinister valley, all unaware what they would discover there.