"We don't want to tire out our horses, you know," explained Tad. "They have a long journey ahead of them today."
"Yes, we could do a lot more if it weren't for that," added Stacy Brown pompously.
"It was splendid!" cried the young ladies. "It was marvelous."
"The finest exhibition I have ever witnessed," declared the Major. "Do you shoot also?"
"We are the only ones who really do," admitted Stacy modestly.
"I am afraid our friend Stacy is laying it on a little too strong," laughed Tad, "though we are not what you might call bad shots, especially in the case of Stacy Brown. Why he once shot Professor Zepplin's hat off and never touched a hair."
The fat boy flushed. Further teasing along this line was interrupted by the servants coming out with a pitcher of lemonade, which the boys drank sitting on the lawn in the shade of the trees. After a visit of half an hour, Billy Lilly said they had better be going if they were to make Tensas Bayou that night as they had planned to do, so bidding good-bye to their new-found friends, the lads rode away, waving their hats in response to the fluttering handkerchiefs of the Clowney family. Proceeding to the hotel, packs were lashed to the horses, and shortly after that a cloud of dust just outside the town marked the trail that the Pony Rider Boys were following on their way to the jungle.
[CHAPTER III]
IN CAMP ON TENSAS BAYOU
Darkness had fallen when the Pony Rider Boys party finally had picked their way through the outer edge of the jungle, and, despite the darkness, had continued on through the tropical growth, guided unerringly by Billy Lilly to the site he had chosen for their camp.