Dave Porter in the Gold Fields Part 51

"Oh, look how sunburnt they are!" exclaimed Jessie, and then both girls made a wild dash from the hotel veranda to where the stage was stopping.

In the meantime, Dave had jumped from the seat and soon he was shaking hands with Jessie and had kissed his sister. Then the others came up, and there was general rejoicing.

"We have been around the Park once, on a stage," said Laura.

"But we are going again, on horseback and to camp out!" declared Jessie.

"Fine!" cried Dave. "Couldn't be better!"

"And to think you found that mine!" cried Laura, to Roger. "Oh, how glad I was to hear it!"

"We were all glad!" put in Mrs. Wadsworth.

"And you shot a mountain lion!" cried Jessie. "Oh, Dave!" And she fairly beamed on the youth.

"I suppose you'll be after fresh adventures before long," said Dunston Porter, with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Maybe," answered Dave. "But I think I'll be content to stay here for a bit and take it easy," and he smiled openly at Jessie, who had to turn away to hide her blushes.

What next befell our hero will be related in another volume, to be ent.i.tled "Dave Porter at Bear Camp; or, The Wild Man of Mirror Lake." In that we shall learn the particulars of a queer mystery and what Dave did towards solving it.

It was certainly a happy gathering, and the boys were sorry that Ben and Shadow and some of the others were not there to enjoy it. But they had departed for the East with the others on the personally-conducted tour.

"You'll have to tell us the whole story from beginning to end," said Laura to her brother. "Jessie and Belle and I are just dying to hear every word of it."

"Poor Link Merwell!" sighed Belle Endicott. "I feel sorry for his folks!"

"Yes, what a fearful ending for Merwell and for Haskers, too!" murmured Laura.

"And so you will be rich after all, Roger!" cried Laura.

"Yes, and I am very thankful," returned the senator's son, and then he took a long walk with Laura, while Dave paired off with Jessie, and Phil went with Belle. The young friends had a great deal to tell each other, and n.o.body thought of disturbing them.

"Well, it certainly was some trip," said Phil, to Dunston Porter, Mrs.

Wadsworth, and Belle. "And that landslide! Excuse me from falling in with one of those again!" And he shook his head gravely.

"You can be thankful you were not buried alive," said Mrs. Wadsworth.

Belle said nothing, but she looked at Phil in a manner that warmed his heart.

That evening all of the party had a grand celebration at the hotel.

Every one was in the best of spirits, and the boys fairly outdid themselves telling jokes and funny stories.

"I can tell you, it was a trip well worth taking," said Roger, when about to retire.

"So it was," declared our hero. And here we will leave Dave Porter and say good-by.

THE END

DAVE PORTER SERIES

By EDWARD STRATEMEYER

"Mr. Stratemeyer has seldom introduced a more popular hero than Dave Porter. He is a typical boy, manly, brave, always ready for a good time if it can be obtained in an honorable way."--_Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis._

"Edward Stratemeyer's 'Dave Porter' has become exceedingly popular."--_Boston Globe._

"Dave and his friends are nice, manly chaps."--_Times-Democrat, New Orleans._

DAVE PORTER AT OAK HALL Or The School Days of an American Boy

DAVE PORTER IN THE SOUTH SEAS Or The Strange Cruise of the _Stormy Petrel_

DAVE PORTER'S RETURN TO SCHOOL Or Winning the Medal of Honor

DAVE PORTER IN THE FAR NORTH Or The Pluck of an American Schoolboy

DAVE PORTER AND HIS CLa.s.sMATES Or For the Honor of Oak Hall

DAVE PORTER AT STAR RANCH Or The Cowboy's Secret

DAVE PORTER AND HIS RIVALS Or The Chums and Foes of Oak Hall

DAVE PORTER ON CAVE ISLAND Or A Schoolboy's Mysterious Mission

DAVE PORTER AND THE RUNAWAYS Or Last Days at Oak Hall

DAVE PORTER IN THE GOLD FIELDS Or The Search for the Landslide Mine

DAVE PORTER AT BEAR CAMP Or The Wild Man of Mirror Lake

DAVE PORTER AND HIS DOUBLE Or The Disappearance of the Ba.s.swood Fortune

DAVE PORTER'S GREAT SEARCH Or The Perils of a Young Civil Engineer

DAVE PORTER UNDER FIRE Or A Young Army Engineer in France

DAVE PORTER'S WAR HONORS Or At the Front with the Fighting Engineers