matter could be arranged?â
âYup,â Bolts admitted. âThey said to hunt for running water.â
âWell, youâll never find it standing here.â
âThen lead on,â said Bolts, blinking unhappily at the blackness. âItâs your turn.â
âOh, no. Youâre the one with night vision. Besides, you got us into this pickleâso you should get us out.â
âPshaw!â Bolts grumbled. âWhoâs afraid of the dark?â
He began moving cautiously forward, following his sniffer. There was bound to be water somewhere ahead, and if he followed his sniffer long enough, he couldnât possibly miss it.
Time passed. For Bolts, where every dark and uncertain minute seemed endless, it positively dragged. But up in the Space Jumper, timeâwhich had been dawdlingâsuddenly began to speed up, and presently it was rushing along at a great rate. Soon there was so much excitement that poor Bolts was momentarily forgotten.
The Mexican Air Patrol had not been overcome with enthusiasm when Commander Brown first called them on the radio. âBandits, did you say?â purred the officer in charge. âAnd theyâre after your dog? Dear me, Commander, you have my sympathy, butââ
âI donât want your sympathy!â bellowed the commander. âI want your help! Iâm trying to tell you this is a very special dogâand these bandits are more than bandits. They are spies. They are working for the Mongolians. The ringleaders are Major Mangler and Comrade Pang. Theyââ
âMajor Mangler!â exclaimed the officer. âWhy didnât you tell me that in the first place? There are rewards in nine countries for that rascal! Commander, what percentage of the reward money do you want?â
âI donât want any of it! Just get here fast, and you can capture the whole gang.â
âComingâ ¡muy pronto !â
So it was that a swarm of helicopters loaded with guardsmen suddenly appeared over the mountains. As they landed in the valley, Bingo, eyes popping, eased the Space Jumper lower for a better look. There was a great to-do below, with men rushing this way and that, falling in tangles, scrambling out of tangles, and raising clouds of dust through which horses and dogs raced madly.
The dust was just clearing a bit when Bingo was startled to hear Bolts on the radio. âWeâve found flowing water, Bingoâbut I still donât see no way out.â
âWhich way is it flowing?â Bingo asked.
âAw, how would I know? Whatâs the diff? Itâs all the same down here.â
âIt makes a lot of difference!â Bingo cried. âIf youâll tell us the direction, weâll head that way in the Space Jumper and search for an outlet. The Air Patrol has come and theyâve captured that gang. Now we can land safely and hunt for you.â
âThatâs great news, Bingoâbut Iâm kinda shy on directions. The sun ainât exactly shining down here.â
âBolts, youâve got a built-in compass! Use it!â
There was a silence, then Bolts muttered, âBy Joe, I wondered what that little gadget was that kept jiggling in me. Bingo, this water winds about, but it seems to be flowing mainly northwest.â
âB-but that would take us way over on the other side of the mountain! You must be wrong.â
âNope. My gadget says northwest, Bingo.â
âThen youâll just have to keep going. Weâll cross over and see what we can find.â
While Bolts plodded on in the darkness, Bingoâs fingers flew over the control buttons, and the Space Jumper rose and sped to the opposite side of the mountain.
Big Butch, on watch at a port, suddenly pointed and said, âLook at that deep canyon! Thereâs a stream in the bottom of it. Dâyou suppose itâs the one Bolts is following?â
âWeâd better
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