t," he assented
gravely and with a certain satisfaction. "Is it a far ways to that
mother bear's home?"

"Why?" H. J. Owens turned from staring at the rolling smoke cloud, and
looked at the Kid curiously. "Ain't you big enough to ride far?"

"'Course I'm big enough" The Kid's pride was touched. "I can ride as far
as a horse can travel I bet I can ride farther and faster 'n you can,
you pilgrims" He eyed the other disdainfully. "Huh! You can't ride. When
you trot you go this way!" The Kid kicked Silver into a trot and went
bouncing along with his elbows flapping loosely in imitation of H. J.
Owens' ungraceful riding.

"I don't want to go a far ways," he explained when the other was again
Riding alongside, "'cause Doctor Dell would cry if I didn't come back
to supper. She cried when I was out huntin' the bunch. Doctor Dell gets
lonesome awful easy." He looked over his shoulder uneasily. "I guess I
better go back and tell her I'm goin' to git a baby bear cub for a pet,"
he said, and reined Silver around to act upon the impulse.

"No--don't do that, Buck." H. J. Owens pulled his horse in front of
Silver. "It isn't far--just a little ways. And it would be fun to
surprise them at the ranch Gee! When they saw you ride up with a pet
bear cub in your arms--" H. J. Owens shook his head as though he could
not find words to express the surprise of the Kid's family.

The Kid smiled his Little Doctor smile. "I'd tell a man!" he assented
enthusiastically. "I bet the Countess would holler when she seen it. She
scares awful easy. She's scared of a mice, even! Huh! My kitty ketched
a mice and she carried it right in her mouth and brought it into the
kitchen and let it set down on the floor a minute, and it started to run
away--the mice did. And it runned right up to the Countess, and she
jes' hollered and yelled And she got right up and stood on a chair and
hollered for Daddy Chip to come and ketch that mice. He didn't do it
though. Adeline ketched it herself. And I took it away from her and put
it in a box for a pet. I wasn't scared."

"She'll be scared when she sees the bear cub," H. J. Owens declared
absent-mindedly. "I know you won't be, though. If we hurry maybe we can
watch how he digs ants for his supper. That's lots of fun, Buck."

"Yes--I 'member it's fun to watch baby bear cubs dig ants," the Kid
assented earnestly, and followed willingly where H. J. Owens led the
way.

That the way was far did not impress itself upon