"Oh, I hope he did!" returned Ben, wistfully. "To get those miniatures back means so much to my folks!" CHAPTER XXX THE FORTUNE RECOVERED--CONCLUSION As Dave, Roger, and Ben tramped through the tall grass to where was located a knoll of considerable size, the son of the Crumville real estate dealer related how he and Dunston Porter had arrived in the construction camp and how they had gotten Frank Andrews to show them in what direction our hero and the senator's son had gone. "We knew you were after Porton, and we hoped to catch sight of that rascal," went on Ben, "but we didn't dream that we were going to capture Ward and also those two men who are wanted for that raid on the Tolman ranch. And to think that one of the men is Ward's father! He certainly must be a bad egg!" "He is, Ben," answered Dave. "And Ward is a chip of the old block." The chums were soon ascending the knoll, containing many rocks between which were dense clumps of chaparral. Here they had to advance with care so as not to turn an ankle or get their clothing torn. Dave had hoped that the search for the missing cases would be an easy one, but in that he was disappointed. The three chums walked all around the knoll several times without getting anything in the way of a clue as to where Porton's _cache_ was located. "It's a shame!" burst out Roger at length. "If we could only--" He looked quickly at Dave. "What do you see?" Our hero did not reply. Instead he hurried forward several feet, and then gave a low cry. "Porton has been here!" he exclaimed, and held up a half-burned cigarette. It was not much of a clue, but it was something; and working on this all three of the youths searched the vicinity diligently. They soon came upon a somewhat flat rock, and all seized hold of this to cast it to one side. "Hurrah!" came simultaneously from Dave and Roger, as they saw a large opening under where the stone had been placed. Ben said nothing, but plunged his hand into the opening, to draw from it an instant later one of the cases that had contained the Enos miniatures. The other cases quickly followed. "Are the miniatures in them?" questioned the senator's son. "That's what I'm going to find out," answered Ben. The cases were fastened by several catches, but these were quickly unfastened and the lids thrown open. "Good! Good!" exclaimed Ben, and his face showed his intense satisfaction. There before the eyes of the youths were nearly all of the wonderful collection of miniatures which Mr. Basswood had inherited. Only two were missing--those which the thieves had sold in New York. "Oh, this is simply grand!" cried Roger, enthusiastically. "That's what it is," added Dave, and then went on quickly: "We'll have to get these to some safe place and then make sure that they'll never be stolen again." "Don't you worry about that, Dave. I won't let them out of my sight until they are safe and sound," declared the real estate dealer's son.