AT THE RANCH
As the ranchman watched this scene, his face was a study, but he soon
forgot it in listening to the conversation between Thomas and Bob.
"Do you think it was quite fair to run away while I was trying to find a
pony for you?" asked the agent.
"Don't scold, Hal," returned Bob. "I suppose it wasn't quite fair. But I
wanted to surprise you by getting a job myself, without anybody's help."
Smiling at the boy's independence, Thomas asked:
"Have you got it?"
Before Bob could answer, the ranchman interposed:
"Looks like it, don't it? First he won my--I mean his--dog, and then he
won me. Yes, Hal, Bob's landed and you can tell Ned Higgins from me that
if he tries to put up any more jokes on Bob, I'll fix him so he can't
speak for a year."
"All right, John," smiled the agent. "But I reckon he won't try any
more!"
So significant was the agent's tone that Bob inquired anxiously:
"You didn't do anything to him for sending me to Mr. Ford, did you,
Hal?"
"No, not much," returned Thomas grimly. Yet had he told the entire truth
he would have said he had administered such a beating to the practical
joker, upon learning where he had sent Bob, as Fairfax had never seen
given by one man to another.
"Won't you come in?" asked the ranchman.
"No, thanks. Can't stop. Got to get back for a train. Here, Bob, come
and mount Firefly. He's yours."
"What, you bought Firefly for this boy?" exclaimed Ford in surprise.
"That's what." Then turning to Bob, he added, "Put your left foot in the
stirrup and swing into the saddle. That's the way. Say, John, let Bob
ride back a way with me. I want to show him a few things about a pony."
"Oh, do!" chimed in Bob.
"All right, though I was calculating to teach him myself," returned
Ford, a light such as the station agent had never before seen in his
eyes.
"Can I take Chester?" asked Bob.
"Sure, he's yours!"
"Come, boy," called Bob. Then noticing that Hal wanted to say a word to
the ranchman, he exclaimed: "Don't tell him who I am, _please_." And as
the agent hesitated, he added, shrewdly, "Mr. Nichols wouldn't like it."
"All right, if you say not," returned Hal.
And wheeling their ponies, the two rode off across the plains, the dog
bounding joyfully along at Bob's side.
Gazing after them, even when they had disappeared from sight, stood John
Ford.
As the agent had said, Firefly was so gentle and had such an easy gait
that after the first few minutes' fear had passed Bob found he could not
only keep in the saddle, but could enjoy the motion of the pony.
Critically Thomas watched him, riding close at his side to be at hand in
case of trouble, finally exclaiming in hearty approval:
"You take to a horse like a duck to water, Bob."
"Do you mean that, Hal?"
"I sure do. Now dismount and I'll show you a trick or two." And as soon
as the boy was on the ground, he continued: "Some ponies have a mean way
of starting just as soon as you put your foot in the stirrups. No matter
how nervous your mount is, by drawing the left rein--remember you always
handle a saddle horse from the left side--so short that it turns the
pony's head, you can make him circle round and round, instead of
running straight ahead, which will give you a chance to swing into the
saddle. Now try it."
Without difficulty Bob performed the feat.
"Good," commented his instructor. "We'll both dismount and I'll teach
you how to hobble your pony. Whenever you turn a pony loose on the
plains, whether in the day time or at night, always hobble him. You
never know what may happen when you are 'punching cattle' and oftentimes
by having your pony handy it will save you a lot of trouble, to put it
mildly."
While he was speaking, Thomas had taken Bob's lariat, which hung from
the pommel of his saddle, and drawing the noose small had slipped it
over his pony's right hoof.
"There are two ways of hobbling," he continued, "one, to tie the front
and hind feet on the same side, the other, to tie both front feet. As
ponies are often mighty lively animals, I don't need to tell you the
danger or difficulty of trying to put a rope around their hind legs. But
tying the front feet is easy. Allow about seven inches of rope, then
take a couple of turns around the left fetlock, make a half-hitch and
tie the rest of your rope about the pony's neck.
"Always remember to do that. If you don't, some time the rope end may
catch between the rocks or become tangled in some way and cause
trouble.
"When you stop to rest after a hard ride, always unsaddle, whether you
unbridle or not, and then wipe the dirt and sweat from where the saddle
has been. It rests a pony more than anything you can do.
"At night, when you are on the plains, always use your saddle for a
pillow, then no one can steal it from you.
"Those are the main points. Any special tricks you'll pick up from John
and the boys.
"Oh, there's one more thing: whenever you dismount for any length of
time, pull the reins over the pony's head and either throw them over a
post or else let them drag on the ground. I don't know why it is, but it
seems to make the pony think he is tied."
The lesson over, Bob and Hal remounted and rode on.
At the request of the latter, the boy related his experience at Ford's
ranch. As he did so, the agent looked at him with an expression of
mingled amazement and approval, and as the story was finished,
exclaimed:
"Bob, you sure are a wonder! How you had the nerve to face that dog on
foot, I don't see. Many a man on horseback has been forced to turn and
flee. How did you do it?"
"Oh, I don't know. Just looked him in the eye and spoke to him, that's
all."
But the explanation did not satisfy the agent.
"I don't understand it," he said. "I fully expected to find you lying in
Ford's cabin all chewed up. And here your clothes aren't even torn. I
don't understand it. This is the first time Chester has ever made
friends with anybody. He only minds Ford because he's afraid of him."