n case the Basswoods
met my demands."

"Well, we'll see what comes of it, Ward. I hope we do get that money.
I certainly need some," and Jarvey Porton heaved something of a sigh.
Evidently father and son were equally unscrupulous and took no pains
to disguise that fact from each other.

More talk followed, Ward telling something of the way in which the
miniatures had been obtained and his father relating the particulars
of his troubles with the Mentor Construction Company. In the midst of
the latter recital Dave and Roger heard Packard Brown returning on the
run.

"Hi there!" called out the man in evident alarm. And then as the two
chums hid in the closet once more, he burst into the room occupied by
the Portons. "Those greasers are coming back and they are heading for
this place!" he explained.

"In that case we had better get out," answered Jarvey Porton,
quickly.

"But you and Brown helped them in that raid, Dad," interposed the son.
"Why should you get out?"

"We had a big quarrel after that raid, Ward," explained the parent.
"And now those greasers have no use for us. We'll have to get out, and
in a hurry, too."

Shouting could now be heard at a distance, and this was followed by a
volley of shots which surprised all the listeners.

"I'll tell you what it must be," said Jarvey Porton, as he led the
way from the deserted ranch. "A detachment from the regular army must
be after General Bilassa's crowd. Maybe they'll have a fight right
here along the border!"

"I don't want to get mixed up in any fight!" exclaimed Ward Porton.
"Maybe we had better get back to the United States side of the
river."

"That's the talk!" put in Packard Brown. "Come on!"

All left the ranch and headed directly for the river, at the point
where Ward had left his flat-bottomed rowboat. Dave and Roger followed
them, but did their best to keep out of sight in the tall grass.

"Oh, Dave, I hope they do go over to the other shore!" exclaimed the
senator's son. "It will be so much easier to capture them."

"Exactly, Roger. And don't you remember what Ward told his father--that
he had left the miniature cases hidden on the other side? He said they
were on a high knoll not far from where the boats had been tied up. We
ought to be able to find that _cache_."

By the time the two chums gained the shore of the Rio Grande those
ahead of them had already entered Ward Porton's boat. Ward and Brown
each had an oar and rowed as rapidly a