"They better not take any of my stuff," bristled Stacy belligerently. "We know what to do to them if they do."
"Don't cry before you're hurt," advised Ned. "Who wants to take a look at the town?"
"I don't care anything about the town; I want to sleep," declared Chunky.
"That's right. Sleep is good for children," jeered Ned.
"Is that why you sleep so much?" wondered Stacy innocently.
"Ned, I will go with you," interjected Tad, by way of changing the conversation. "We have plenty of time, and need not dress before four o'clock. It is now only half past one."
Walter and the Professor decided that they would remain in the hotel, so Tad and Ned started out. Before they were out of the house, Stacy had thrown himself on the bed in his room, and was sleeping soundly. It was after three o'clock when Butler, returning to the hotel, shook Stacy awake, urging him to hustle his bath and dress. The boys were eagerly looking forward to the evening before them, for it was to be their first visit to a southern home. They were looking forward with a different sort of eagerness to the journey on which they were about to set out—a journey to the nearly trackless, vast canebrakes of Louisiana. It was a wonderful bit of country into which they were headed, but as yet they knew practically nothing of its wildness and its manifold dangers, nor did they give thought to this phase of their summer's outing, for, the greater the thrills, the keener the enjoyment of the Pony Rider Boys.
Following the return of Tad and Ned, all hands withdrew to their rooms to dress. The other boys finished dressing some time before Stacy made his appearance, strolling dignifiedly into the parlor where his companions were awaiting him.
"Well, here I am," announced Stacy.
The Pony Riders gazed at him in amazement.