"Fine!" grinned Tad. "Do you know who shot it, Chunky?"
"A young man of considerable importance, who just fits into my garments," replied Stacy Brown, throwing out his chest once more. "And I came near having a fearful fight with the critter, too."
It was a small bear, but Brown had really killed it unaided.
Ned, too, rode with a small bear tied to his saddle. Only Walter Perkins returned bootless, but that was to be expected of Walter, who was an indifferent sportsman. Professor Zepplin had had no intention of bagging any game.
Two bears, however, did not represent all the fun that had been had on this second trip into the canebrake. All three of the boys were as brown as coffee berries and as "hard as nails." They were in splendid shape.
Just a few days more and the Pony Rider Boys were obliged to bid their hosts and Lilly good-bye. It seemed as though half the inhabitants of the small town turned out to see the departing boys off at the railway station.
"Come back again! Come back again—soon," was the chorus that went up as the train began to move, while the Pony Rider Boys, their heads at the open windows, waved back.
Before leaving they learned through Major Clowney that government agents had arrested Alligator Pete Austen, who had tried to be their guide, and several other men from that section. These men had been part of a band of smugglers, smuggling German goods through Mexico. A fishing smack had been bringing the goods across the Gulf of Mexico. The stuff had been hidden on a remote deep bayou, and from there disposed of for considerable sums of money. The government agents recovered a heavy supply of goods of various sorts that, of course, had come in duty free by way of the secret route. Austen, who was in charge, attended to the work of getting the supplies into the brake where it was cached in steel cribs in the bayou.
For this, he and others of the gang—ten men in all—were convicted and sent to prison. The Pony Rider Boys had smoked them out without realizing that they were doing their country a great service. And now they were on their journey home. Not to remain there for long, however, for the boys had other worlds to conquer, other startling adventures before them. They will be heard from again, in the next volume of this series, which will be published under the title, "THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN ALASKA; Or, The Gold Diggers of Taku Pass." This following volume will be found one of the most fascinating of the entire series, with the Pony Riders in the saddle in new surroundings, undergoing experiences different from anything that they had ever met with.