ngs the boys could do in winter, but these were
forgotten for a time by Whitey, for a great event was about to take
place. His father was to return to the ranch from New York, stopping
over at St. Paul, on his way, to buy supplies. And as the snow was not
too deep for sleighing, Whitey drove down to the Junction, with Bill
Jordan, to meet Mr. Sherwood. And outside Whitey was all wrapped up in a
buffalo coat, and inside he was so warm with excitement that the coat
seemed hardly necessary.

Now, of course, Whitey was awfully glad to see his father, and to hear
the news about his mother and sisters, and about Tom Johnson, and George
and Bobby Smith, and others of his boy friends. But after he had heard
all this there was another thing that naturally came to his mind. Mr.
Sherwood would not come back to the ranch without bringing Whitey some
sort of present, and his father was singularly silent about what this
was. In fact, he had not said anything about it at all. And it was after
supper, and Mr. Sherwood was unpacking his trunk, when he rather
carelessly said, "Oh, here's something I brought for you," and gave
Whitey a parcel.

Whitey thanked his father, and undid the parcel, and he dropped the
things that were in it, and his eyes popped out, and for a moment he
could hardly breathe, he was so excited, for they were Boots!

And when Whitey recovered a bit he rushed over and actually hugged his
father.

Perhaps you would like to know why a pair of boots would cause all this
feeling in Whitey. For one thing, it was because he never had owned any.
In New York all the boys wore shoes, and when Whitey had come to the
ranch he had worn them, too, until the soles of his feet had become hard
enough, like Injun's, for him to go barefoot, which he delighted in
doing.

But in the late fall, and the spring, when it was colder, he again
followed Injun's lead, and wore moccasins. Buckskin moccasins, with
little bead decorations. In the cold of winter, when the snow was deep,
and when the big thaws came, Whitey wore heavy, moccasin-like
muck-lucks, made of buckskin, which laced high, nearly to his knees, and
over the tops of which hung the tops of heavy, woolen socks.

These comprised Injun and Whitey's footwear for the seasons. But there
was one thing that Whitey envied the cowboys on the ranch their boots.
For you must know that there are two things on which a puncher spends
his money extravagantly--his boots and his saddle. Un