Castlemon Harry
Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho
While the boys were thus engaged, the settlers and their herdsmen were busying themselves in removing various articles of value from the building, such as provisions, weapons, ammunition, and bales of goods; and at daylight a long string of wagons, and a longer string of mounted men, crossed the creek, and slowly wended their way toward the settlement. Just as the cavalcade entered the woods, huge volumes of flames burst from the doors and windows of the rancho, and in a few hours nothing but blackened and crumbling ruins remained to mark the spot whereon had stood the robbers’ stronghold.
It was breakfast time when Frank and Archie reached home, but they went to bed immediately, and slept until long after midnight. When they awoke, they felt very sensibly the effects of the rough treatment they had received; and when Uncle James arrived two days afterward, he found them with their heads tied up, Frank with his arm in a sling, and Archie hobbling around with a cane. But then they had covered themselves with glory. They had shot Old Davy, and assisted in breaking up the robber band, and no general ever felt prouder of his victories than the boys did over these exploits. The story of their adventures is, however, not yet complete. According to arrangement, they accompanied Captain Porter on his trading expedition; and what they saw, and what they did while they were gone, shall be told in “Frank in the Mountains.”
