Skinny was only joking."
Horace was about to reply when Hop Joy poked his head through the
door, saying:
"Glub all leady, Ned."
"All right, Hop." And springing from his bunk, Ned went out to
harness his horses, accompanied by several of the cowboys.
For an hour or so the chums stayed in the bunkhouse, listening to
stories of marvelous feats of broncho-busting and whatever else the
men pleased to tell them, only leaving when Nails announced it was
time to go to the corral and saddle up.
"Aren't you going with them?" asked Tom.
"No," returned Horace. "We are liable to get hurt, it's so dark.
We couldn't see anything if we did go. Besides, father may have
some orders to give us."
The only instructions Mr. Wilder had to give, however, were to be
careful not to do anything that would cause his wife to worry about
them.
"Suppose the herd gets in trouble, what shall we do?" persisted
Horace, on whose excited mind the words of the Three Stars' cowboy
had made a lasting impression.
"Use your own judgment. But don't let your imagination play tricks
on you. The cattle will be all right--unless you get them
restless."
"Oh, we won't do that," quickly declared Larry. "We'll take such
good care of them, you will want to hire us as cowboys when you get
back."
The shouts from the corral told the ranchmen that the time for the
start had arrived, and quickly they made themselves ready, while
Hop Joy appeared to say he had sent saddle bags with food for Mr.
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