[Frontispiece: Faster and Faster Danced Ned Rector.]
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, Etc., Etc.
I. THE DESERT'S MYSTIC SPELL II. THE FIRST NIGHT IN CAMP III. TWISTED BY A TWISTER IV. THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE V. STALKING BIG GAME BY MOONLIGHT VI. BAGGED BY LUCKY SHOTS VII. CHUNKY COMES TO GRIEF VIII. NEARLY DROWNED IN AN ALKALI SINK IX. THE BOYS DISCOVER A RIVER X. A COWBOY TAKES A HEADER XI. A PIECE OF HUMAN SANDPAPER XII. RUNNING DOWN THE TRAIL XIII. COYOTES JOIN IN THE CHORUS XIV. FUN IN THE FOOTHILLS XV. BUD PROMISES SOME EXCITEMENT XVI. THE BATTLE OF THE STALLIONS XVII. ON A WILD-HORSE HUNT XVIII. ROPED BY ROUGH RIDERS XIX. WINNING THEIR REWARD XX. VISITED BY A HALO XXI. OFF ON A DRY TRAIL XXII. IN THE HERMIT'S CAVE XXIII. LOST IN THE DESERT MAZE XXIV. CONCLUSION
"If this is the desert, then I think I prefer mountains," decided Stacy Brown.
"It is not the desert. We have not reached it yet. This is the Diamond Range," replied Tom Parry, who was to guide the Pony Rider Boys across the great Nevada Desert. "We shall soon be there, however."
"You'll know the place when you see it, Chunky," said Ned Rector.
"And feel it, too, I guess," added Tad Butler under his breath.
"We have the desert on each side of us now," continued the guide. "Were you to fire a rifle to the right or left, your bullet would fall on the baking alkali of the desert."
"Then, if we're so near, why not get out in the open, instead of floundering through these hills?" questioned Stacy.
"I'm thinking you'll wish you were back in the hills before many days," laughed the guide.
"Mr. Parry has his own reasons for following this trail, Master Stacy," interposed Professor Zepplin. "We are entirely in his hands and it is not for us to question the wisdom of his decision."
Parry was a splendid type of the plainsman of the great West. Tall, straight, clear-eyed, his bronzed cheeks fairly glistening in the sunlight, he would have attracted attention anywhere. At present, he sat on his pony motionless, the broad sombrero tilted upward above his forehead as he peered into the amber haze that hung over the western horizon.