In a few minutes it was all over.  The sheriff’s men surrounded the besiegers, placing every man of them under arrest.  After this the officers quickly liberated the Pony Rider Boys.  Three of the besiegers had been wounded.  Among them, was the Mexican whom Tad had defeated in the tilting game a few days before.

When all was over, the boys hoisted Tad Butler on their shoulders and marched around the adobe house shouting and singing.  Mr. Marquand decided to go back with the posse, using these men as a guard for his treasure.  It was understood that the Pony Rider Boys were to follow the next morning.  Before leaving, Mr. Marquand called the Professor aside.

“There is, on a rough estimate, all of sixty thousand dollars in the treasure chest.  Had it not been for you and your brave boys I should have lost it.  So, when you reach Hondo to-morrow, I shall take great pleasure in presenting to each of you a draft for two thousand dollars.”

Professor Zepplin protested, but Mr. Marquand insisted, and he kept his word.  After the posse, with their prisoners and the treasure, had started, the Pony Rider Boys, arm in arm, started off across the moonlit meadows toward their camp.  It was their last night in camp.  Their summer’s journeyings had come to an end—­ a fitting close to their adventurous travels.  Not a word did they speak until they reached the camp.  There, they turned and gazed off over the plain which was all silvered under the now clear light of the moon.

“It has been a silver trail,” mused Tad Butler.

“It has indeed,” breathed his companions

“And we’ve reached the end of The Silver Trail,” added the Professor, coming up at that moment.  “To-morrow I’ll breathe the first free breath that I’ve drawn in three months.”

The boys circled slowly around him and joined hands.  Then their voices rose on the mellow desert air to the tune of

“Home, Sweet Home.”

A week later saw the wanderers back in Chillicothe.  Their welcome was a warm one.  Banker Perkins found his once ailing son now transformed into a sturdy young giant.

We shall meet them again in the next volume of this series—­ in a tale of surpassing wonders—­ published under the title:  “The pony rider boys in the Grand canyon; Or, the Mystery of Bright Angel Gulch.”  It will be found to be by far the most interesting volume so far published about the splendid Pony Rider Boys.

 The End.

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