THE TRAIL TO TOMBSTONE 8

while dale was gone, billy took a old shovel he found and started scraping the dirt out of the house. then he patched the door best he could. takeing the shovel to the back of the house to the seep he stood there looking at the little puddle of water oozing from the ground.he knew if he went about this wrong he could loose it all together. finally he took the shovel and started building a rim around the seep. when done with that he laid the shovel aside and getting down on his kneeds shoved his hands down into the water puddle as far as they would go, almost to his elbows. when he drew his hands back he brought hand fulls of black mud and added them to the rim . he repeated the process twice more. then the water started bubbling and comming to the surface harder.he had opened a small cavern flowing with water. as the water came to the surface he wet and smoothed the basin sides. then he started finding flat rocks and laying them in the basin then up and along the sides. he hoped the basin would hold ten gallons or so. soon the water reached the lip of the basin and ran over. it flowed toward the house then the corral. they were down hill from basin. billy grabbed his shovel and started channeling the water to the corral it nran under the fence, across the corral and out the far side. billy decided they needed some pipe and a barrel for the house.he hoped the water would continue to flow permanatly. so far thats what it looked like. he dug a pool in the corral so the horses would be able to get a good drink.. billy was pretty proud of himself.

THE TRAIL TO TOMBSTONE 7

the next morning dale and billy left gleeson just at day light headed south. they took a big tall ridge that was dropping south. they had asked everyone they met for directions to judd wilkins ranch and everyone shook their heads and stated they never heard of it. the country to the south of gleeson was broken and cross cut with arroyos and deep draws. dale had pack a bit of provisions on the little pack horse so he felt they could spend a fair amount of time searching.. mid day they stopped on a high point and took a rest. neither man had much to say. while spearing sliced peaches from a can and looking south billy suddenly stopped. he stared south for a few moments then finally said" there" pointing south with his fork. below them they could just make out the outline of a roof. they mounted and started on down the ridge. a half hour later they rode into a flat spot between two arroyyos. a rock and adobe house stood to one side, long and narrow. the door hung by one hinge. the roof was thatched with yucca fronds. opposit it was a large corral made from rock and adobe but not finished. it would hold 500 head when finished. but parts of the walls were only 3 feet tall.behind the house next to a arroyo bank was a patch of green , a small tree and some grasses. rideing over to it dale realized it was a seep. turning to billy he grinned " how ever so humble home sweet home." billy only grunted. at the corral billy found a adobe brick with the jw brand inbedded in it." well i guess this is it for sure" dale stepped off his horse and went to the house door. looking in he saw the floor was dirt and a few basic peices of furniture a small table, a couple of wooden bed frames and a wooden chair or two. no stove, just a fire place in one end of the building.scrapping around in the house trying to make a place to cook and sleep they realized the dirt floor was just a covering . the real floor was flagstone! the dirt had been carried in by livestock, wind and such. the thatch roof showed day lite in places.the basics was there but a lot of work lay ahead shapeing it up. billy decided he would clean the seep out while dale was gone to the county seat. dale stated he would try to find some help while gone to the county seat.. many plans were needed..