the bridle and bag, "What ye got
them fer?" he asked.

"I didn't want to use yours," she replied.

"Mine?" The cattleman was puzzled.

"Yes: I brought this," she went on, holding up the bag, "to catch him
wiv; and this," holding up the bridle, "to take him home wiv."

"Him?" questioned the cattleman, more puzzled than ever.

The little girl saw that she would have to make herself more clear.
"Why, yes," she said. "You promised me anyfing I wanted if I'd get
well; now I'm well, so I've come to--to--get Sultan."

The cattleman sat down, amazement and consternation succeeding each
other on his face. Until now he had forgotten the compact made with her,
and which he was in honor bound to keep. Recalling it, he realized that
it meant the loss of his best horse.

He was silent for a while, thinking hard for a means of escape from his
dilemma. When he spoke at last he was smiling good-naturedly. "Ye're
right," he said, rubbing his hands briskly over the long hair of the
breeches; "I did say that very thing. An' I'm a man o' my word. But it
seems to me," and he leaned forward confidently, "thet ye ain't made
exac'ly the best pick thet ye could." The little girl sat up with a new
interest. "Now I've got sunthin' here," continued the cattleman,
"thet'll jes make yer eyes pop." He got up, went to a box that, nailed
against the wall above the stove, served him for a cupboard, and took
out a long, slender package. "Ye've got more horses than ye can shake a
stick at," he began again; "ponies an' plow teams an' buggy nags, but ye
ain't got nuthin' like what I'm 'bout to show ye."

Slowly and impressively he began to undo the package, keeping one eye
covertly on the little girl all the while. She was beside him, rigid
with expectancy. When many thicknesses of thin brown paper had been
unrolled, he stepped back, unwrapped a last cover, and, with a proud
wave of his hand, revealed to her delighted gaze a big, thick,
red-and-white candy cane.

"Now, what do ye think o' that?" he demanded.

An exclamation of wonder came from her parted lips. She moved nearer
without answering.

"As I said," he went on, "y' 've got all kinds of horses; but when in
yer life hev ye hed anything like this?" He laid it gently on the table,
and folded his arms solemnly. "Thet came all the way from Yankton," he
said, as if recounting the history of some famous work of art. "I bought
it down thar of a feller, an' paid some little money fer it." He di