uth where the outfit of the Star C made the air
blue with powder smoke. As they came nearer something peculiar was
noticed by Helen. It appeared to be a sort of drag drawn by a horse and
supported by two long, springy poles, one end of which rested on the
ground, and the other fastened to the saddle. While she wondered Bill
came up and she turned to him for light.

"What have they got fastened to that horse?" she asked him.

He looked and then smiled: "Why, it is a travois," he said. "But what
under the sun have they got on it? They must be bringing their own grub!"

The travois dragged and bumped over the uneven plain and soon came near
enough for its burden to be made out. A man and a dog were strapped to it.

At this point Blake joined Helen and Bill, and as he did so he espied the
travois.

"Thunder!" he cried, running forward. "Somebody is hurt! What's the
matter, Silent?" he shouted.

"Matter?" asked Silent, in surprise as the outfit drew near. "There ain't
nothing the matter. Why?"

"What's that travois doing with you, then?" Blake demanded.

Silent's face was as grave as that of an owl. "Travois?" he asked.
Then his face cleared: "Oh, yes--I near forgot about it," he added,
apologetically. "You see, Humble he shore wanted his dog to come to the
picnic, so we reckoned we'd let it come along. Bud and Jim was for
slinging it at the end of a rope and dragging it over, but I said no.
We ain't got any ropes to have all frayed out and cut a-dragging dogs
to picnics, and I said so, too. So we built the travois and strapped
Lightning to it. When Humble saw what we had done he acted real unpolite.
He said as how he wasn't going to have no dog of his'n toted twenty
miles in a fool travois. Said that he'd make it stay home first, which
was some mean after inviting the dog to come along. He said that he'd
go in a travois himself first before he'd let the setter be made a fool
of. Well, we simply had to subdue him, and he got so unreasonable that we
just had to tie him with his dog. He shore does get awful pig-headed at
times."

"Take off the gag, Jim," requested Silent, turning to the grinning
cow-puncher. "Let him loose now, we've arrived."

Jim leaned over and whispered in Humble's ear, the information being that
there were ladies about, and that all swearing must be thought and not
yelled. Then he slipped the gag, and untied the ropes. Gales of laughter
met the angry and indignant puncher when he had leaped to