?" asked Ted, laughing. "From what I can see there isn't one
of them you could call angelic."

"Thar's ther meanest bunch o' horse meat thet ever come ter this man's
ranch, bar none, an' ther prize devil o' ther lot is thet black demon in
thar. He near broke my pony's leg a minute ago with a stem-windin' kick
sech ez I never see before. Thet hoss is shore double-j'inted."

The horses were bunched, heads in, heels out, around a splendid-looking
black stallion, which was biting and kicking at everything that came
near him.

"Let him kick his foolish head off," said Ted, viewing the squealing,
struggling throng.

"I reckon they're just showin' off because Stella got here this
mornin'," said Bud disgustedly. "They're tryin' ter knock us, Stella, by
showin' yer thet we aire a bum lot o' horsemen fer not makin' them
behave first off."

Stella laughed and nodded. She understood.

"Where did you pick up such a mean bunch of horses?" she asked.

"Them hosses is intended fer ther tourneymint what takes place after
ther round-up. We're goin' ter hev some roughridin' fer fair here, an'
if we all git out with whole bones we shore kin send up a balloon in
celebraytion."

"But where did you get them? Were they bred mean on purpose?"

"I reckon not. I bought 'em from ther wild range in Montana. They ain't
seen men closer than a mile, except'n' it wuz Injuns, an' they don't
count, until we butted in on 'em. They belonged ter ole man Stallings. I
reckon you remember him, what we met on our way ter Fort Grant, when yer
run erway an' got lost on Red Mesa."

Stella nodded.

"I wuz lookin' fer a bunch o' cow hosses. We sold a big run o' 'em ter a
Newbrasky cowman who was short o' saddle stock, an' who said he'd heard
we had the best-broke cow ponies in ther West, an' I reckon we had. He
was willin' ter pay a good price fer our spare stock, an' we unloaded."

"Then you will have to break in a lot of new ones. Isn't that a waste of
time?"

"Young woman, we're ranchmen, not rockin'-chair gents. It's part o' our
business ter take somethin' what ain't much good, an' make it better.
That's the way we earn our bread an' bacon."

"So I see."

"Ted says ter me ter go up inter Montana an' pick up a lot o' good,
gingery hosses, an' I struck John Stallings. He says ter me, when I made
my wants known, 'Go out on ther range an' he'p yerself,' says he.
'They're all mine, an' Ted Strong an' his boys kin hev anythin' I've got
except my fa