ion: "LOOK, TED! LOOK!" "IT'S AN INDIAN."
_The Curlytops at Uncle Frank's Ranch_ _Page 65_]

"Are the Indians near here?" Teddy inquired.

"No, not very near. It's a day's ride to their reservation. But don't
worry about them. They won't bother you if you don't bother them," said
Uncle Frank.

Teddy was not fully satisfied with this answer, for he hoped very much
that the Indians would "bother him"--at least, he thought that was what
he wanted.

When the Curlytops drew closer to the ranch they could see that one of
the buildings was a house, almost like their own in the East, only not
so tall. It was all one story, as were the other buildings, some of
which were stables for the horses and some sleeping places, or "bunk
houses," for the cowboys, while from one building, as they approached
closer, there came the good smell of something cooking.

"That's the cook's place," said Uncle Frank, pointing with his whip.
"All the cowboys love him, even if he is a Chinaman."

"Have you a Chinese cook?" asked Mrs. Martin.

"Yes, and he's a good one," answered Uncle Frank. "Wait until you taste
how he fries chicken."

"I hope we taste some soon," said Daddy Martin. "This ride across the
prairies has made me hungry."

"I hungry, too!" exclaimed Trouble. "I wants bread an' milk!"

"And you shall have all you want!" laughed the ranchman. "We've plenty
of milk."

"Oh, this is a dandy place!" exclaimed Teddy, as the wagon drove up to
the ranch house. "We'll have lots of fun here, Janet!"

"Maybe we will, if--if the Indians don't get us," she said.

"Pooh! I'm not afraid of them," boasted Teddy, and then something
happened.

All at once there came a lot of wild yells, and sounds as if a
Fourth-of-July celebration of the old-fashioned sort were going on.
There was a popping and a banging, and then around the corner of the
house rode a lot of roughly-dressed men on ponies which kicked up a
cloud of dust.

"Ki-yi! Ki-yi! Yippi-i-yip!" yelled the men.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" exploded their revolvers.

"Oh, dear!" screamed Janet.

Teddy turned a little pale, but he did not make a sound.

"What is it?" asked Mrs. Martin, hugging Trouble and his sister closer
to her. "Oh, what is it?"

"Don't be afraid!" laughed Uncle Frank. "Those are the cowboys making
you welcome to Ring Rosy Ranch. That's their way of having fun!"

CHAPTER VII

BAD NEWS

On came the cowboys, yelling, shouting and shooting off thei