"Get off that broncho and give us a dance, young fellow," they shouted.
"Thank you, I"m not dancing to-day," smiled Tad Butler.
"Ain"t dancing? We"ll see about that. Come off that nag."
Tad shook his head. At that instant a rope squirmed through the air from a moving pony. Butler threw himself to one side just in time to avoid it. The lad"s eyes snapped.
"Guess I"ll take a hand in this, too," he growled.
The lad unlimbered his rope in a twinkling and let fly at the cowboy who had just sought to rope him. With unerring aim Tad"s lariat caught the left hind foot of the cowman"s broncho. Pony and rider went down like a flash.
Instantly there was a loud uproar. The horse-hunters yelled with delight; at least all of them save the cowboy who had bit the dust, and he sprang up, bellowing with rage, as he made for the grinning Tad.
Tom Parry decided that it was time for him to take a hand.
The guide jumped his pony between Tad and the angry cowboy.
"That"ll do, Bud! You stop right where you are!" Tom commanded.
"But the miserable coyote roped me."
"You tried to rope him first."
"It"s Tom Parry," shouted the cowmen. "Hey, Tom! Them"s a fine suit of clothes you"ve got on there. Where"d you get them?"
"Call off Bud and I"ll tell you," grinned Tom, "He"s got no reason to interfere with my boys here."
Laughing uproariously, the cowboys forced their bronchos between Bud and the others, cutting him off and bidding him attend to his own business. Then the cowmen halted their ponies, after closing in about the Pony Rider Boys, while Tom Parry related the experiences they had pa.s.sed through on the previous night.
"Come along. We"ll take you to a place where you can get all the pants you want," shouted the leader of the party, after Tom had finished his story.
The cowboys wheeled their ponies and the procession moved on down the street. They had discovered that the Pony Rider Boys were not the band of tenderfeet that they had at first taken them for.
Arriving at the store, the lads lost no time in leaping from their ponies, which they tethered at the rail in front, and hurried into the store. This was a postoffice as well as general trading post.
Half the town, it seemed, had gathered outside the building to get a look at the nearly naked strangers who had ridden in a short time before. But once inside the store, the boys did not propose to exhibit themselves further if it were possible to avoid it.
An entire new outfit was necessary--tents, provisions and all, and to purchase all these things would occupy the greater part of the rest of the afternoon.
No sooner had they entered the store and made their wants known, than the boys became conscious of the presence of ladies. The boys could not see them plainly, because it was a dim, dingy place at best.
But, all at once Ned felt a cold chill run down his back. One of the ladies was speaking to him.
"Isn"t this Mr. Rector?" asked a pleasant voice. "I am quite sure I am not mistaken."
Ordinarily Ned would have been glad to meet an old acquaintance, but when a boy is clad only in a pair of pink pajamas, his feet bare of covering, he is not particularly anxious to see anyone he knows.
It was so with Ned Rector. At first he pretended not to hear. A hand was placed lightly on his shoulder. Then he turned, his face flushing painfully.
"I am Mrs. Colonel McClure from Texas," she informed him. "We had the pleasure of entertaining you and your companions when you were with the cattle drive in our state."
Ned bowed and mumbled some unintelligible words. He failed to note the twinkle in the eyes of Mrs. McClure.
"And this," she continued, "is my niece Miss Courtenay, Miss Barbara Parks and Miss Long," continued Mrs. McClure mercilessly.
The young women were blushing furiously as they acknowledged the introduction. Ned failed to observe it, however. His eyes were on his feet and the pink toes which seemed abnormally large at that moment.
"Where are your companions, Mr. Rector? I thought they were with you a moment ago?"
"Wh--ye--yes--they are here, they----"
Ned looked about him blankly. No one was in sight. Then he discovered the grinning face of Stacy Brown peering at him from behind the postoffice wicket.
At the first alarm Walter Perkins had sunk down behind a cracker barrel with Tad Butler crouching behind him. Over behind the counter was the guide, while, behind a pile of horse blankets, Professor Zepplin lay flat on the floor, shrinking himself into as small a s.p.a.ce as possible.
Ned Rector was left to face the enemy alone.
CHAPTER V
STALKING BIG GAME BY MOONLIGHT
The tension of the moment was relieved by a merry laugh from Mrs.
McClure and her friends, in which Ned Rector joined spontaneously. The situation was too funny for even his offended dignity to resist.
The result was an invitation for the entire party to dine with Mrs.
McClure and her friends that evening. Ned Rector accepted on the spot, much to the disgust of his companions, who felt a diffidence about meeting the ladies after the exhibition in the store.
However, after they had properly clothed themselves they felt better, and the evening pa.s.sed at the home of Mrs. McClure"s friends was one of the most enjoyable they experienced.
At sunrise next morning the Pony Rider Boys were once more on the desert, bubbling over with spirits and antic.i.p.ation.
"I"ve got another invitation for you boys," announced Tom Parry after they had halted for the midday rest.
"I hope we"ll have some clothes on when it comes off, then," growled Ned.
"It won"t make much difference whether you have or not, so far as this invitation is concerned."
"What is the invitation?" asked Professor Zepplin.
"Bud Thomas and the other cowboys are hunting wild horses for market, you know?" replied the guide.
"Wild horses?" marveled Walter.
"Yes."
"I didn"t know there were any about here," said Tad.