mark there was a general laugh.

It was getting dark when they came in sight of Star Ranch. They made out
a long, low building on the southern slope of a small hill. It was built
in modern bungalow fashion, having been erected by Mr. Endicott after
the original log dwelling had been destroyed by fire. It was divided
into a sitting-room fifteen feet by twenty-five, an office, a good-sized
dining-hall, a kitchen, and eight bedrooms, and a bath. Water was pumped
from a brook at the foot of the hill, and the rooms were lighted by a
new system of gasoline gas. The ranch home was comfortably furnished,
and in the sitting-room were a bookcase filled with good reading, and a
new player piano, with a combination cabinet of sheet music and music
rolls.

"I play by hand," said Belle, when the boys noticed the player piano,
"but papa plays with his feet."

"That's the kind of playing I do, too," answered Phil, with a grin.

"But you sing, don't you?" asked the young hostess of the ranch.

"Oh, yes, we all sing."

"Belle is a beautiful player," said Laura. "Wait till you hear her play
some operatic selections."

Supper was in readiness, having been ordered in advance by Mrs.
Endicott, a sweet woman who looked like Laura, and as soon as the girls
and boys had had a chance to brush up and wash, all sat down to partake
of the good things provided. Jessie was much astonished by the things
spread before her.

"Why, I thought we were going to live in regular camping style!" she
declared. "This is as good as what we had at the hotel in Chicago, if
not better."

"The Wild West of to-day is not the Wild West of years ago," explained
Mrs. Endicott. "People from the East have a wrong impression of many
things. Of course some things are still crude, but others are as
up-to-date as any one could wish."

"What I like best of all is the general open-heartedness of the people
you meet," declared Dave. "They are not quite so frozen-up as in some
places in the East."

"That is true, and it is readily explained," answered the ranch owner.
"In the pioneer days everybody had to depend upon everybody else, and
consequently all were more or less sociable. The feeling has not yet
worn off. But I am afraid it will wear off, as we become more and more
what is called civilized," added Mr. Endicott, with something of a sigh.

Everybody was hungry, and all did full justice to the repast. As they
ate, the boys and girls asked many questions concer