"What!" exclaimed the Professor.

"Two more ponies, that's all," replied Tad Butler. "We are a smart
lot to let him steal our stock right under our very eyes."



CHAPTER X

THE PROFESSOR DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF


The boys uttered a cry of dismay.

"You don't mean--you can't mean they have been here again?"

"It looks that way," replied Tad. "Both Walter's and Ned's ponies are
gone. See, the ropes have been untied, not cut. The ponies surely
did not do that."

The Professor was much too excited to speak for the moment.

"I am glad they did not take your mount, Professor. That is one thing
to be thankful for, anyway," said Tad. "I don't understand this
business at all."

"Why, they must have been hanging about our camp all the time. They
followed us here," exploded Ned. "We are a lot of tenderfeet."

"Some of us," suggested Chunky.