ous.' Wasn't I a goose not to think of it?
And Uncle Joe telegraphed so as to get us here in time. Grandmother,"
here she turned a rueful countenance on Mrs. Clyde, "going to school
hasn't helped my head a bit, I'm just downright _dull_."

Uncle Cliff gave an amused laugh. "I'm glad to have caught you napping
for once, young lady. Now, as soon as Gertrudis stops sending in
corncake, I propose that we adjourn to the stables and look over the
mounts. Pinto Pete says he has a nice little bunch of ponies."

"Why do they call him 'Pinto?'" asked Debby. "I thought that meant a
spotted horse."

"Haven't you noticed Pete's freckles?" asked Uncle Joe. "He has more
and bigger ones than any other human in Texas, and the boys called him
'Pinto Pete' the first minute they clapped eyes on him. He don't
mind--it's the way of the West."

"And is 'Shady' a nickname, too?" Debby asked.

"No--just short for good old-fashioned Shadrach. Shadrach Stringer's
his name, and he's the best twister in the county."

Debby had a third question on her lips but checked it as she met
Kitty's saucy eye. Kitty, known as "Little Miss Why," was always on
the alert to bequeath the name to a successor. But Sarah saw none of
the by-play and asked at once:

"What's a 'twister?'"

"A bronco buster," replied Uncle Joe.

Sarah's look of mystification at this definition sent Alec off into a
fit of laughter. Blue Bonnet came to the rescue. "A twister breaks in
the wild horses, Sarah. Some day we'll get him to give an exhibition.
You'd never believe how he can stick on,--it'll frighten you the first
time you see it. The way the horse rears and bucks and runs, why--"
Blue Bonnet suddenly choked and turned pale. Mrs. Clyde and Uncle
Cliff read her thoughts at the same moment and both rose hurriedly.

"Come on, everybody," exclaimed Mr. Ashe in a resolutely cheerful
tone, "we must make the most of the morning."

"Why?" asked Kitty before she thought, and then bit her lip. That word
"why" was such a pitfall.

"Everybody has to take a siesta in the afternoon," explained Blue
Bonnet. "It's too hot to move."

"Every afternoon?" demanded Debby.

"Every afternoon," repeated Uncle Cliff. "Anybody caught awake between
one and four P. M. will be severely dealt with. It's a law of the
human constitution and the penalty is imprisonment in the hospital,
headache, and loss of appetite."

"What a waste of time," Sarah commented, privately resolving that she
woul