e fair in a wagon that
will hold a village of people," concluded Polly.

"I think it will be heaps of fun to camp right in town where crowds of
other folks are camping," said Eleanor, giggling.

"It is. You never know who your next-door neighbor is going to be,"
laughed Polly. "Once, we camped right next to a horse-thief who was
wanted by the sheriff. My, but we had an exciting time when he crawled
into mother's bed and hid!"

"Polly! You forgot to say that this happened while we were at the fair
and he was driven from his own tent," hastily added Mrs. Brewster, while
the others laughed heartily at Polly's omission.

At these yearly events, every workhand on a ranch went to the fair,
whether the cattle starved or not. But with Mr. Brewster's help, it was
so planned that half of them went from Monday morning until Tuesday
noon, and then the other half went from Tuesday noon until Wednesday
night. In this way each side had plenty of time to spend their
hoardings, and to drink all the "Sure Death" whisky that could be had in
Oak Creek.

The great ranch-wagon rumbled away Monday noon, and a gay party it
carried, too. The tents were tightly rolled and tied to the sides, while
rolls of bedding and hampers of food were stacked under the high front
seat. Hard wooden seats were clamped to each side for the travelers to
sit upon.

Tom Latimer and John kept every one laughing, so that no one complained
of the uncomfortable seats that seemed to grow harder the nearer the
travelers came to Oak Creek.

Then the party drew near their objective. But such a different Oak Creek
from its usual sleepy appearance! The entire countryside, outside of the
settlement proper, was dotted with canvas tents, and campers were
running back and forth. Just to the right of the town stood a vast tent,
like a circus canvas; and in line with it were several smaller ones.

"That larger one is where all the exhibits are shown and where the
contests take place, such as eating pan-cakes, shoveling coal, testing
mining tools, and other tame games," explained John.

"Do they bust the bronchos there, too?" asked Eleanor.

"No, that, and the trick riding, is done out in the ring," replied Mr.
Brewster.

While the men pitched the tents and carried the folding cots from the
wagon, Sary unpacked her meager cooking outfit, and Mrs. Brewster
arranged the hampers in a safe place in her tent. Eleanor and Polly
stood watching the crowds of incoming ranchers