Read The Pony Rider Boys in Louisiana; or, Following the Game Trails in the Canebrake Page 1

  Produced by Ann Boulais

  [ILLUSTRATION: Frontispiece: The Pole Was Jerked From the Fat Boy'sHands.]

  The Pony Rider Boys in Louisiana

  or

  Following the Game Trails in the Canebrake

  by Frank Gee Patchin

  Author of The Pony Rider Boys in the Rockies, The Pony Rider Boys inTexas, The Pony Rider Boys in Montana, The Pony Rider Boys in theOzarks, The Pony Rider Boys in the Alkali, The Pony Rider Boys in NewMexico, The Pony Rider Boys with the Texas Rangers, The Pony RiderBoys on the Blue Ridge, The Pony Rider Boys in New England, etc.,etc.

  Illustrated

  PhiladelphiaHenry Altemus Company

  Copyright, 1924 byHoward E. Altemus

  Printed in the United States of America

  Contents

  CHAPTER I--SOUTHERN HOSPITALITYA study in black and white. "I'm the Duke of Missouri." Waxedfloors too much for the fat boy. "I sometimes fall off a house togive me an appetite."

  CHAPTER II--BOUND FOR THE CANE JUNGLEPicking out their new ponies. Favors for the brave. Girl friendssee the Pony Rider Boys in daring horsemanship. Tad ropes apickaninny. The colored population treated to an unusual exhibition.

  CHAPTER III--IN CAMP ON TENSAS BAYOULiving with the snakes in the canebrake. Barred owls make the nighthideous. Stacy's slumbers greatly disturbed. Little rest for thePony Rider Boys. Stacy lays the foundation for trouble.

  CHAPTER IV--NATURE BLOWS OUT A FUSEThe camp aroused by an explosion. Tents found ablaze. "The campfirehas blown up!" Ichabod denies responsibility. Chunky admits hisguilt. "Gentlemen, I shot a pig."

  CHAPTER V--MAROONED IN A SWAMPThe cook finds Tad's feet out of doors. Strange sights in thejungle. On an island made over night. Snake and bird battle onhigh. Pony Riders are castaway for three days. A forest of perils.

  CHAPTER VI--TAKING DESPERATE CHANCESDogs and birds welcome the sunlight. Tad blazes a trail on thecypress knees. "Have all you boys got scents like deerhounds?" TadButler amazes Bill Lilly, the guide.

  CHAPTER VII--A SWIM IN TENSAS LAKEChunky goes in with the alligators. Tad's bullet speeds true. Anarrow escape. Stacy up a tree. Ned Rector knows a way to get thefat boy down. Lively times in camp. The Professor takes a hand.

  CHAPTER VIII--WOODMAN, SPARE THIS TREE"No one can stay mad at me for very long." Chunky comes down in aheap. How they wound the hunter's horn. Stacy Brown is left behindand forgotten.

  CHAPTER IX--THE FAT BOY HUNG UP"Whoa, you fool horse!" "Give the baby his horn." A narrow escapefrom death. Down goes the fat boy again.

  CHAPTER X--IN THE HEART OF THE CANEBRAKEThe bush-knife a dangerous weapon. Stacy found dangling in the air.Keeping company with an owl. Tad takes a perilous plunge. Chunkymixes it up with 'gators again.

  CHAPTER XI--ON THE BIG GAME TRAILSRoped on the verge of death. It takes the whole outfit to rescue thefat boy. "That 'gator won't have any further appetite for fat boys."Bear sign in the west.

  CHAPTER XII--THE QUEST OF THE PHANTOM DEEROn the trail of a she-bear. Tad Butler's champion shot. A deerinstead of a bear. Mighty hunters get a shock. "He's gone!" gaspthe Pony Rider Boys.

  CHAPTER XIII--THE MYSTERY IS SOLVEDOn the trail of the stolen doe. "I'll break my neck if I ride anyfaster." Tad meets a suspicious character. Chunky makes a discovery."Your nag has blood on his flank!"

  CHAPTER XIV--THE FAT BOY DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF"I remain right here. Stacy, wind the horn!" The stranger growsthreatening. "A fellow who will steal a deer will not hesitate tolie!" The woodsman takes a shot at Tad. Chunky turns the tables onthe man.

  CHAPTER XV--PLUCK AND THE DEAD DOEJust a preliminary skirmish. "I'll get you yet, you young whelp!"Stacy disarms a bad man. "Now get out of here as fast as you canride!" Traveling amid perils.

  CHAPTER XVI--THE HORN POINTS THE WAYJoy and anger in the Pony Rider camp. Ichabod licks his chops atsight of Tad's doe. The story of the theft arouses Bill Lilly. "Ireckon I've seen that hound before." Another day is coming.

  CHAPTER XVII--WOLVES ON THE TRAILStacy's hat no longer hits his head. Cane bears grow savage. Houndsset on the trail. Flying, snarling, yelping heaps of fur. Dogs andwolves in a battle to the death. Tad and Stacy jump into the fight.

  CHAPTER XVIII--A STAND IN GRIM EARNESTWolves leap on the fallen fat boy. Tad battles with the beasts withrevolver and bush-knife. Chunky sails in with a club and proveshimself a hero. Professor Zepplin sees red.

  CHAPTER XIX--WHAT TAD FOUND ON THE TRAILVenison steak and boiled bayou water. Bill Lilly is excited overButler's discovery. "The cold-blooded scoundrel!" The guide hitsthe trail with blood in his eye.

  CHAPTER XX--MAN-SIGNS IN THE CANEBRAKE"He'll get a dose of lead if he doesn't watch out!" Tad finds afresh trail. Lilly turns up a snaketrap. A moccasin in a bucket.Death traps laid by a bad man.

  CHAPTER XXI--SURPRISES COME FASTAlligator Pete gets the drop on the guide. Bill Lilly in a tightplace. "Look out, this gun might go off!" The tables quicklyturned.

  CHAPTER XXII--OUTWITTED BY A BOYTad Butler ropes the enemy. "I'll kill you for that!" Pete standson his head. A sign of surrender. The prisoner of the Pony RiderBoys. Butler takes a long chance.

  CHAPTER XXIII--ICHABOD GETS A BIG SURPRISE"De 'gator done gwine away, sah." Hounds and Pony Riders take thetrail for bear. "They've got her!" A strange sight. A bullet thatwent home. Tad charged by a ferocious she-bear.

  CHAPTER XXIV--CONCLUSIONIn a dire predicament. Butler fights Mrs. Bruin. A hand and pawconflict. Tad's knife driven home. Laid up for repairs. Smugglerscaught and punished. The triumph of pluck.