as Kooch's ranch,
where, according to an immemorial custom, they lunched and rested
until the cool of the afternoon. On the return trip they met with an
adventure.

The road ran for a short distance beside the little river with the big
name--San Franciscito--which had so amused Alec. It was there that
Sarah did something unprecedented. For several miles she had been
envying Blue Bonnet her easy manner of handling the reins and the
light touch that sent the mustangs right or left as she willed. It was
a beautiful accomplishment.

"Blue Bonnet," she asked suddenly, "may I drive for a little while?"

Blue Bonnet looked up in speechless surprise; Sarah was certainly
"coming on." "Surely you may," she said cordially, straightway handing
over the reins. "Hold them firmly--these colts are apt to run under a
loose rein."

Sarah felt a curious sense of power as she grasped the leather in her
unpracticed hands. Conscientious to a degree, she did as she was bid
and held the mustangs firmly. In her anxiety to do the thing properly,
she overdid it, and the next moment the horses were tossing their
heads angrily and backing with all their might. The bank of the stream
just here was very high and steep, though just beyond was a ford where
the road branched. The light buckboard offered no resistance to the
spirited mustangs, and, in a second, before Blue Bonnet could grasp
the reins, one hind wheel had slipped an inch or two over the ledge.
For a second or two the girls were in grave danger. Blue Bonnet felt a
swift overpowering fear; the half-broken colts were as apt to plunge
backward as to advance if they felt the whip, and that meant a plunge
down the steep bank. She looked about her helplessly. Sarah, with a
faint shriek, shut her eyes and prepared for the catastrophe.

At that moment a horseman came suddenly up the bank at the ford,
emerging as if from out the earth. At a glance he took in the
situation, was off his horse, caught the near colt by the bit and
brought both frightened animals to a standstill with the wheel a safe
margin from the bank. Then without waiting to hear the faintly
murmured thanks of the terrified girls, their rescuer turned at once
to his own horse, which had seized the moment to make a break for
freedom. The boy--for he was hardly more--had thrown the lines over
the animal's head and now, with another of his incredibly swift
movements, he caught them and in a second more had jerked the horse
abou