The Pony Rider Boys on the Blue Ridge

or

A Lucky Find in the Carolina Mountains

by

Frank Gee Patchin

Author of The Pony Rider Boys in the Rockies, The Pony Rider
Boys in Texas, The Pony Rider Boys in Montana, The Pony Rider
Boys in the Ozarks, The Pony Rider Boys in the Alkali, The Pony
Rider Boys in New Mexico, The Pony Rider Boys in the Grand
Canyon, The Pony Rider Boys with the Texas Rangers, etc., etc.

ILLUSTRATED

Philadelphia Henry Altemus Company

Copyrighted, 1924, by Howard E. Altemus

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I—THE CAMP IN SMOKY PASS
All ready for the doodle bugs. Stacy envies the guide's appetite. "We'll be having trouble before morning." Chunky's howl terrifies Billy Veal. The Pony Rider Boys in a critical position.

CHAPTER II—BATTLING WITH A GREAT FLOOD
"Chops" has a narrow escape. "You'll drown if I let go." "Do you hear that noise?" The crest of the flood bearing down threatens to engulf the Pony Rider Boys.

CHAPTER III—LOST IN A MOUNTAIN TORRENT
Swept away on the roaring waters. All hands shoot the rapids. "Just like alligator bait." A hail that was promptly answered. Chunky tells another story.

CHAPTER IV—WHAT HAPPENS TO CHOPS
Canned goods are widely distributed. Billy Veal sleeps amid perils. The fat boy emulates the crow. The guide proves to be a regular song bird. "Bye-o, bye-o, baby; 'possum mighty sly."

CHAPTER V—EXCITEMENT AT HUNT'S CORNERS
The "Bad Man from Smoky Creek" arrives in a cloud of dust. "Turn the coyotes loose! Whoope-e-e-e!" The bully of the Blue Ridge gives Chunky's foot a twist. Trouble in the making.

CHAPTER VI—TAD BUTLER IN ACTION
An exhibition of cool audacity. The freckle-faced boy resents an insult. Smoky Griffin gets a punch on the jaw. Ned holds off a crowd. "I'll shoot the first man who tries to pass you a gun!" A fight to a finish. Spectators break into cheers.

CHAPTER VII—ON THE WAY TO SMOKY BALD
"The crowd always goes with the upper dog." Tad rids a community of a pest. "That's what I call a mean trick." The fat boy in a rage. Stacy pounds across the plain in pursuit of his outfit.

CHAPTER VIII—STALKING THE FAT BOY
"I don't ask any odds of a horse." Tad trails the fat boy and makes an exciting discovery. Stacy Brown near death. Tad's lasso wriggles through the air. A frantic bad man in the toils. "That gentle heart was about to smash my head with a stone."

CHAPTER IX—REVENGE ALMOST AT HAND
The prisoner aims a rifle at Tad Butler and pulls the trigger. Tad apparently has made a grave mistake. A bad man subdued by his Adam's apple. "He is an ungrateful wretch." The trouble-maker freed and told to get out.

CHAPTER X—BISCUIT AND MYSTERY
The bully plots revenge. In the Land of the Sky. Chunky has a nerve-racking dream. Putting a hoodoo on Billy Veal. Chops, frantic with fear, bolts the camp. "There he goes!"

CHAPTER XI—AN INTERRUPTED JOURNEY
"Where is that guide?" Billy admits that he saw a gnome. The only Indian on the reservation. A visitor who brought unpleasant news. The Pony Rider Boys are ordered to get off the Ridge.

CHAPTER XII—FACING NEW OBSTACLES
Stacy arouses the anger of a supposed officer. Young Butler runs a human trail and makes a discovery. "A precious pair of rascals." Threats that do not cower. The boys agree to go on.

CHAPTER XIII—AN EXHIBITION OF SHEER PLUCK
The Professor ready for a fight. Held up by armed men. "In my opinion you're a scoundrel!" Tad shows his nerve. "It's the black cat and we'll all be lame ducks in a minute and a half." The situation of the boys grows serious.

CHAPTER XIV—THE PROFESSOR TAKES A HAND
"Make 'em dance!" Bullets fly thick and fast. A mountain ruffian unhorsed. "Get out and don't you dare show your crooked faces here again!" "Gold? Gold? Lead me to it!"

CHAPTER XV—THE GHOST OF THE TULIP GLADE
"Do I look as if I had twenty biscuit inside of me?" demands Chunky. Tad rigs up an ingenious burglar alarm. The freckle-faced boy turns practical joker. "I'm shot! I'm shot!" Chunky and Chops see a real ghost.

CHAPTER XVI—A MYSTERIOUS NIGHT PROWLER
A prank that was timely. "I'm hobbled for keeps!" "There was a strange man in this camp tonight." Tad finds a prowler's trail. A discovery that amazes the Pony Rider Boys.

CHAPTER XVII—PROSPECTORS IN THE HILLS
A man is identified by a horse's footprint. Friendly faces once more. Getting acquainted with new-found friends. Pony Rider Boys amaze the gold prospectors. The enemy is fully identified.

CHAPTER XVIII—THE CAMP SUFFERS A LOSS
When the collie dog did not come back. Tad reads the ground signs. "Your dog chased a man away from this camp last night." A new sort of tenderfoot. Something must be done.

CHAPTER XIX—BUTLER MAKES A DISCOVERY
Stacy thinks a Pomeranian is a cheese. Tad Butler takes the trail again. "I must say those fellows are bold." Chunky could not have done worse. "It's the collie!"