you choose for me, Kitty Clark, and I'll
show you if I'm afraid to ride!"

This outburst from Sarah the placid rather startled the We are Sevens.
But Kitty, after a surprised stare at the ruffled one, picked up the
gauntlet. She appraised the horses with a calculating glance, then
picked out a chestnut who showed the whites of his eyes in a most
terrifying manner.

"How does that one suit you, Senorita Blake?" she asked tauntingly.

"Very well," returned Sarah with a toss of her flaxen braids. This was
sheer bravado, but it passed muster. No one dreamed of the shivers of
abject fear that were chasing up and down the girl's spine at sight of
the fiery little chestnut with the awful eyes.

"Why, that's Comanche!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "He has a heavenly
gait."

"Comanche!" Alec echoed, and then withdrew hastily to a convenient
stall. The thought of the plump, blond Sarah mounted on a steed
bearing such a wild Indian name was too much for him. He emerged a
moment later very red in the face and unable to meet Blue Bonnet's
eye. Their sense of humor was curiously akin, and Blue Bonnet knew,
without being told, what mental picture filled Alec's mind.

"Why not have a ride this morning,--there's plenty of time before
noon," suggested Uncle Joe. "Here, Lupe, bring out the saddles," he
called.

Guadalupe, the "wrangler," appeared from an inner room, looking like a
chief of the Navajo tribe, so burdened was he with the bright-hued
Indian saddle-blankets. The girls watched him with eager eyes, but
when he was followed by several boys bearing huge cowboy saddles,
there was a little murmur of dismay from the group.

"Men's saddles for us!" exclaimed Debby in a shocked undertone.

Blue Bonnet laughed outright. "Didn't you hear Grandmother say: 'When
you're in Texas do as the Texans do?' Well, turn and turn about is
fair play. Didn't I ride a side-saddle as proper as pie in Woodford?
Now it's your turn."

Sarah gave an approving look at the high pommels of the saddles, and
at the strong hair-bridle that was being fitted over Comanche's wicked
little head.

Blue Bonnet gave the same bridle a look that was far from approving.
"Lupe, isn't that a Spanish bit you're using?"

"Si, Senorita," said Guadalupe guiltily.

"Then take it right off!" commanded Blue Bonnet in her old imperious
way. "They're cruel wicked things that cut a horse's mouth to pieces,
and I won't have them used," she explained to the girls. "Lupe knows