The Pony Rider Boys on the Blue Ridge; or, A Lucky Find in the Carolina Mountains

by Frank Gee Patchin

A MYSTERIOUS PROCEEDING

Tad had already started back along the ledge which opened into the gulch just before they reached the gap mentioned in the preceding chapter. A short distance to the rear the rocks sloped down into the gulch with a gradual fall. It was down this rugged place that Tad began to climb, followed closely by Ned Rector.

Tad Was Followed Closely by Ned Rector.

The boys were too busy with their climb to do much talking on the way down, and had they not been thoroughly seasoned they would have been obliged to stop for breath more than once, even if the way was down hill.

"Whew! That was some climb, wasn't it?" exclaimed Rector when finally they reached the bottom.

Tad ran forward. Some ten rods up the gulch he halted, pointing to a crushed heap on the ground.

"There's the poor collie, Ned."

"The fiends! They threw him over, didn't they?"

Tad nodded, thoughtfully.