my life that I didn't mind a little thing like
that."

The three boys laughingly voted Mr. Melton's story a "curly wolf," and
then, as it was getting late, trooped off to bed.

CHAPTER VIII

With Teeth and Hoofs

One of the most important of the many industries of the ranch was the
breeding of horses for the Eastern market. Mr. Melton had a number of
fine horses, but the most valuable of all was Satan, a big black
stallion. His pedigree was as long as his flowing tail, and physically he
was a perfect specimen. His only drawback was a fiendish temper, which it
seemed impossible to subdue. Strangers he would never tolerate, and Mr.
Melton seemed to be the only man on the ranch that could go near him
without running a chance of being badly kicked or bitten. Even he was
always very careful to keep an eye out for mischief whenever in the
neighborhood of the stallion.

All the cowboys hated Satan, and with good reason. More than one of them
bore marks of the horse's sharp teeth, and all of them could tell stories
of narrow escapes experienced while feeding him or otherwise going
through duties that called them into the neighborhood of the beautiful
but vicious animal.

He was pastured in lonely grandeur in a spacious corral, shunned by all,
but apparently happy enough in spite of this. The three boys often
watched him at a safe distance, and regretted that his evil temper made
it impossible to be friendly with him. Satan often lost many a lump of
sugar or delicious carrot that he would have gotten had he been of a more
friendly nature, in this way resembling many humans who build up a wall
of reserve or ill-temper about them, and so lose many of the good things
of life.

Soon after the arrival of the boys at the ranch Mr. Melton decided to
purchase another stallion, as the demand for good horses at that time
was exceptionally great. Accordingly, one day another horse made his
appearance in a corral adjacent to that in which Satan was kept. The new
horse was a good-sized bay, but not quite as large as Satan, although a
little younger. The two corrals were separated by a double fence, so
that, while the two horses could get within a few feet of each other,
they could never get close enough to fight.

From the very beginning they exhibited a mutual hatred, and it was
evident that if they ever got within striking distance of each other
there would be trouble. Everybody on the ranch was strictly enjoined to
keep