l by the
foot. "Say, you're smitten all right. Come on, Dave, let us wake him out
of his dream!" And he commenced to pull on the foot.

"Hi! you let up!" cried the shipowner's son, clutching at the bed to
keep himself from falling to the floor. "I haven't said half as much
about Belle as you've said about Laura, so there!"

"Never said anything about Laura!" answered Roger, but he, too, turned
red. Dave commenced to laugh heartily, and Phil wrenched himself free
and stood up.

"What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander," cried Dave.
"Better both quit your knocking and go to bed. I suppose the girls are
tired out and want to go to sleep."

"Sounds like it, doesn't it," murmured Roger, as a shriek of laughter
came from across the hallway.

"Maybe they are knocking each other the same way," suggested Phil.

"Never!" cried Dave. "Girls aren't built that way."

But Dave was mistaken.

A little later quietness reigned, and one after another the newcomers to
Star Ranch dropped asleep.

CHAPTER XII

A RACE ON HORSEBACK

"What a beautiful spot!"

It was Dave who uttered the words, as he stood out in front of the ranch
house on the following morning. He had gotten up early, and Laura and
Belle had joined him, leaving the others still at rest.

Dave spoke with feeling, for the grand and sublime things in Nature had
always appealed to him. He was gazing toward the east, where the rising
sun was flooding the plains with a golden hue. Beyond the cottonwoods he
caught a glimpse of the winding river. Then, when he turned, he saw the
foothills and the mountains in the west, with their great bowlders and
cliffs and their sturdy growths of pine.

"Aren't you glad you came, Dave?" said his sister, as she placed an
affectionate hand on his shoulder.

"Indeed I am, Laura," he replied. "Why, it looks to me as if I was going
to have the outing of my life! In fact, all of us ought to have the best
time ever!"

"Does it put you in mind of your trip to Norway?" questioned Belle.

"Hardly. That was taken during cold weather, and everything was covered
with snow and ice. Besides, the scenery was quite different." Dave
paused to sweep the horizon. "In what direction is the Merwell ranch?"
he asked.

"Over yonder," answered Belle, pointing up the river. "The little brook
flowing down between those rough rocks marks the boundary line."

"And whose cattle are those on yonder hills?"

"I am not sure, but I thi