Leaving his tired horse behind him, the eldest Rover mounted the
animal Watermelon Pete had been riding, and the whole party, minus
the negro, who was left to take care of himself for the time being,
started for the rendezvous of the counterfeiters.

"If you do any shooting, be careful and don't hit my brother Sam,"
said Dick.

"I'll warn the men," answered James Monday, and did so.

Dick was so tired he could scarcely sit up in the saddle. But he
longed to see Sam rescued, and so rode along as best he could.

As they neared the spot where Tom and his friends were in waiting,
they heard a faint shout and soon the fun-loving Rover appeared. He
had heard the distant firing when Watermelon Pete was hit and was
afraid Dick had been wounded.

"Good! good!" he shouted when he recognized Dick and the government
official and Fred. "This is the best yet. Now, I hope we can round
up that whole crowd."

They continued to advance, and as they did so they heard a firing at
a distance, in the direction of the counterfeiters' rendezvous.

"Something has gone wrong there," cried Dick.

Something had gone wrong, and to the advantage of the Rovers, as Dick
and Tom afterwards learned. Sam had been left to take care of himself
for a few minutes, and by a dexterous twist of his wrists had managed
to rid himself of the rope which bound him.

Watching a favorable moment, the youngest Rover slid behind a rock
and then began to run at his best rate of speed for another shelter
some distance away.

As soon as his flight was discovered some men went in pursuit, and
two shots were fired at the boy, one grazing his left shoulder, but
leaving only a scratch.

The counterfeiters would have continued to pursue the fleeing one,
but now a new alarm sounded out and a guard rushed up.

"A posse is after us!" called the guard. "We have got to fight, or
ride for it."

"Let us fight!" exclaimed Sack Todd, but this proposition was voted
down, as it was not known how many were after the evildoers.

Sack Todd was the last man to leap into the saddle. As he did so, he
gritted his teeth hard.

"They shan't capture me!" he muttered. "I am not to be taken alive!"

Away went the crowd at a breakneck speed, Dan Baxter in their midst.
But at the first opportunity the bully turned to the southward and
he disappeared when a patch of timber was gained.

"This is too hot for me," he muttered. "I guess the best thing I can
do is to get out of this neighborhood and skip for parts unknown for
a while." And then he urged his horse still further to the southward,
until the mists in a swamp in the midst of the timber hid him completely
from view.

Having escaped from his captors, Sam hardly knew what to do, but, as
he heard a number of shots fired, he made up his mind that help must
be at hand, and so he hurried back on the trail, and presently came
in sight of the other boys. Then he set up a mad shout of joy, which
they quickly echoed.

"Are you perfectly safe, Sam?" asked Dick, riding up.

"Yes, although I had a narrow escape," and the youngest Rover pointed
to where the bullet had grazed his shoulder. "What of the others?"

"All safe and sound," sang out Tom, coming up. "And James Monday and
a big posse are after Sack Todd and his crowd hot-footed."

"Shall we join in?" asked Songbird.

"I can't go another step," answered Dick. "I am more than tired,"
and he sank in a heap on the saddle.

"You boys stay here, and we'll fix those rascals," cried a man of
the posse. "You have done enough."

"I guess we have," said Tom. "We are safe and sound, and that is the
main thing, so far as we are concerned."


Here let me add a few words more and then bring to a close this tale
of "The Rover Boys on the Plains."

Utterly worn out, the boys remained where they were until noon of
the day which was now dawning. At a great distance, they heard pistol
and gun shots, and they knew that some sort of a fight must be going on.

They were just preparing to move for town, when they saw two of the
posse returning with three prisoners, each disarmed and with his
hands bound behind him. One of the prisoners was Puller and another
Andy Jimson.

"We are going to get most of them," said one of the posse to the
boys. "But they are a pretty desperate lot."

The prisoners were placed in charge of the Rovers and their friends,
and the whole party moved for town without delay, while the men of
the posse went back to continue the hunt for the counterfeiters. In
the end, every man but Sack Todd was captured. Dan Baxter was tracked
to the edge of the swamp, and there his horse was found, stuck in
the ooze, Nearby lay the hat of the bully.

"My opinion is that Baxter lost his life trying to get through the
swamp," said James Monday after the hunt had come to a finish.

"What a horrible end," said Sam, and shivered.

"Perhaps he did lose his life," was Dick's comment. "But I shan't
believe it until I have the direct evidence. I guess, though, I've
seen the last of my watch," he added.

A search was kept up for several days for Baxter, but it brought no
further traces of the misguided youth.

"He is gone, that's sure," said Tom. "I must say, I never thought
he'd have such an ending as this!"

James Monday was much chagrined to think that Sack Todd had slipped
him, but he was much elated when one of the posse found several
pack-ages among the rocks. These packages contained all of the printing
plates used in the manufacturing of the counterfeit bank notes.

"The plates are what the government wants, most of all," he told the
boys. "They were made by an old engraver who was once in the employ
of the government. The man is too old and shaky to make other plates,
and as Sack Todd isn't an engraver himself, it's not likely he will
attempt to go into the business again."

As soon as all the criminals were properly jailed and the boys had
given their testimony, they obtained a good night's rest and then
set off for Carson Denton's plantation. The remainder of the trip
proved uneventful, and when they reached their destination they felt
in the best of spirits once more. The news of what had occurred had
preceded them, and they were looked upon as heroes by the girls and
Mrs. Laning and Mrs. Stanhope.

"But you mustn't get into any such trouble again," said Dora to Dick.

"Think, if you had been burnt up at that fire!" cried Nellie.

"Or if those bad men had shot you," added Grace.

"Well, we came out of it with a whole skin," said Tom, "so we need
not complain."

"And I guess, with Baxter gone, our troubles are about over," said
Sam. But he was mistaken in his surmise, as we shall learn in the
next volume of this series, entitled "The Rover Boys in Southern
Waters; or, The Deserted Steam Yacht." In this volume we shall meet
all of our young friends again and learn the particulars of a most
peculiar happening.

When the proper time came, the rascals who had been captured were
tried and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. All that remained
of Red Rock ranch was confiscated by the government, and the paper
and printing machinery were destroyed.

While at the plantation, the boys had much sport hunting and fishing
and riding. The girls often went along; and all too soon it was
announced that the houseboat was once more ready for use, and the
brief outing ashore must come to an end.

"Well, take it all in all, we have had a good time," said Dick

"Yes," answered Sam, "although we had a little more excitement than
we bargained for."

"Excitement!" came from Tom. "Pooh! Life wouldn't be worth living
without some excitement."

And then he set up a merry whistle; and with that whistle let us
bring this story to a close.



THE END