ON THE PONIES
Mr. and Mrs. Bunker found Laddie sitting on the bank of the creek
looking at something on the ground near him.
"What is it?" called Daddy Bunker, as Russ led them up to the place
where he and his brother had been fishing. "What have you caught?"
"I--I guess it's a riddle, for I don't know what else it is," answered
Laddie. "Come and look."
"Better not touch it," cautioned his mother.
"I'm not going to touch it, 'cause it can bite. It's got a funny head
and a mouth," said Laddie, "and it bit on my hook and it's got it yet."
Mr. and Mrs. Bunker hurried over and saw what Laddie had caught. As Russ
had said, it was rough, like a stone, and as black and hard-looking as
a rock. But it was alive and moved.
"Why, it's a mud turtle!" exclaimed Daddy Bunker, as he took a good look
at the creature. "It's nothing but a mud turtle, Laddie! I should think
you'd know what they are, for you have seen them in Rainbow River at
home."
"No, this isn't a mud turtle," said Russ. "I know what a mud turtle is,
and this is different. It's something like one, but not the same."
"How did you get it, Laddie?" asked Mother Bunker.
"Well, I was fishing, and I got a lot of nibbles but none of the fish
stayed on my hook. Then, all of a sudden, this one stayed on, and I
pulled him up, only it isn't a fish."
"I should say not!" exclaimed another voice, and they looked up to see
Uncle Fred standing near them. He had followed Daddy and Mother Bunker
to the place where the boys were fishing.
"What is it?" asked Russ.
"That's a snapping turtle--not a mud turtle," went on the ranchman.
"They're very hard biters, and if a big one gets hold of your finger or
toe he might bite it off, or at least hurt it very much. So keep away
from these fellows."
"I thought it didn't look like a mud turtle," said Russ.
"It is something like one, but different in shape," went on Uncle Fred.
"We'll just cut this one off your line, Laddie."
The line was cut, and the turtle, that had the hook in its mouth,
crawled down toward the creek. It had tried to crawl away before, but
could not because the fishing line held it.
"They get their mouth closed tight, and don't like to open their jaws,"
said Uncle Fred, as the turtle disappeared under the water with a
splash. "But I guess this one will open his mouth and let go the hook
when he gets off by himself. This is the largest snapper I've seen
around here. The Indians say they're good to eat, but I've never tried
it."
"Well, I did catch something like a riddle, didn't I?" asked Laddie.
"Yes. And Uncle Fred guessed the riddle," answered Russ. "Now we'll
fish some more."
"And I don't want to catch any more snappers," said Laddie, when Uncle
Fred had fastened a new hook on his line.
The grown folk went back to the ranch house, leaving the boys to fish,
and, somewhat to their own surprise, Laddie and Russ each caught two
good-sized fish.
With shouts of delight, about an hour after having captured the snapping
turtle, they ran to the house, holding up on strings the prizes they had
caught.
"We'll have 'em cooked!" cried Laddie. "They're good to eat! One of the
cowboys told us they were."
"Yes, those fish are good to eat," said Uncle Fred. "I'll have Bill
Johnson clean and cook them for you."
"This is better than riddles!" laughed Russ. "I'm going fishing every
day and catch fish."
"And I'm going, too," declared Violet.
"Good!" cried her father. "Then Uncle Fred won't have to buy so many
things at the store."
The fish were cooked, and very good they were, too, though Mun Bun said
they had too many bones in them, and this, perhaps, was true. But all
fish have bones.
As the days went on Uncle Fred and his men, as well as Daddy Bunker,
tried to find the lost cattle, or the men who, it was thought, had taken
them. But they could not. The cattle seemed to have vanished, leaving no
trace.
Every day some of the six little Bunkers, and, sometimes, all of them,
went to the mysterious spring, to see if any of the water had run out,
but it seemed to be all right, and behaving just as a spring should.
"Though there's no telling when it will go dry again," said Uncle Fred.
"We'll have to keep watch of it. For nearly every time the spring goes
dry I lose some cattle."
"May we go for a ride on our ponies to-day?" asked Russ of his mother
one morning. "Laddie and I want a ride."
"Will you be very careful," asked his mother, "not to go outside the big
field?"
"Oh, yes, we'll just stay in the big field," promised Laddie. "Come on,
Russ! We'll have some fun!"
The four older Bunker children had learned to ride the little Shetland
ponies very well. Uncle Fred had let them take, for their own use, four
of the best animals, which were kind and gentle. He had also set aside
for them a big fenced-in field, where they might ride.
Over to the corral Russ and Laddie ran, and soon they were leading out
their own two special ponies. A little later they were riding them
around the big fenced-in meadow, playing they were cowboys and Indians,
though Russ was not allowed to have a lasso. Uncle Fred had said that if
a little boy, like Russ, played with a rope while riding a pony, the
cord might get tangled in the pony's legs, and throw it.
"This is lots of fun!" cried Laddie, as he trotted about.
"Most fun we ever had!" agreed Russ.
But as the six little Bunkers said this every place they went, you can
take it for what it is worth. Certainly they were having good times at
Uncle Fred's.
When Russ and Laddie were giving their ponies a rest in the shade of a
tree that grew at one side of the field, they heard a voice calling to
them:
"Give me a ride! Oh, please give me a ride!"
"It's Margy!" cried Russ, looking around. "How'd you get here, Margy?"
he asked.
"I walked," stated the little girl. "Mother and Daddy have gone to the
store with Violet to get her a new dress, and Mun Bun has gone, too. I
stayed at home with Rose."
"Where is Rose now?" asked Laddie.
"She is out in the kitchen, making a pie. Bill Johnson said she could.
So I took a walk to come over to see you, and I want a ride."
"Shall we give her a ride?" asked Laddie.
"I'd like to," Russ answered. "But how can we? Mother said we couldn't
take any one on the same pony with us, 'cause we couldn't hold 'em on
tight enough."
"If we only had a little cart we could give her a ride," said Laddie.
"We could sit on our pony's back and one of us could pull her in the
cart. But we haven't got a cart."
"Please, I want a ride!" repeated Margy.
Russ didn't say anything for a moment. Then he suddenly exclaimed:
"I know how we can give her a ride!"
"How?" asked Laddie. "Can you make a cart?"
"No, but I can make something just as good!" exclaimed Russ, and he
began whistling. "You wait, Margy! I'll give you a ride!"
Russ tied his pony to the fence and hurried over toward the barn,
telling Margy to crawl in under the fence and wait until he came back.
Margy was going to have a ride, and there was to be a queer ending to
it.