The major and his party rode at once to the fort, and his appearance there among the officers, with several of whom he had once been intimately acquainted, produced a great commotion. The commander listened in amazement to his story, and acting upon the information which Silas was able to give him, at once dispatched his cavalry to the mountains in pursuit of the robbers who were yet at large. The history of the wrongs of the major and his family spread like wild-fire, and everybody who heard it was astonished and enraged. The trappers about the fort, and the sutlers and miners flew to arms to assist in hunting down the outlaws, and during the week following Julian and his brother found ample opportunity to gratify their love of excitement. The avengers did their work quickly and well, and the summary manner in which the captured desperadoes were disposed of served as a warning to other lawless spirits in that section for all time to come.
At the end of a fortnight the fighting was all over, the excitement had somewhat abated, the settlers and miners had resumed their various avocations, and the major and his boys were once more in peaceable possession of their home, which soon began to wear its old familiar look again. The high stone wall which surrounded the rancho was leveled to the ground, and flowers planted where it stood. The officers of the fort visited there regularly as of old, and the rooms which had so long been silent and deserted echoed to the sound of laughter and music.
Everybody looked upon Fred and his brother as heroes. The almost inexhaustible fund of stories the former had collected during his connection with the robber band, as well as the adventures he met with while in the performance of his perilous duties, were listened to with interest by all the visitors at the rancho, and none were more delighted with them than the officers who tried so hard to capture him. He and his brother for a few weeks led a life of quiet ease, for the keen and rational enjoyment of which they had been fully prepared by their recent perils and excitements. The time never hung heavily on their hands. They had much to talk about, and when weary of fighting their battles over again, there were their horses, hounds, guns and fishing-rods always at their command. We might relate many interesting incidents that happened in that valley before the boys bade good-by to their father and their mountain home to become students in an Eastern academy, but “A Brave Boy’s Struggles for Home and Fortune” are ended, and our story must end with them.