"Huh! There isn't one within a thousand miles of us." "You will think differently when you see the one at the ranch house." "Did--did the colonel say what we were going to have to eat?" asked Stacy Brown, in all seriousness. His question provoked a loud laugh from cowboys and Pony Riders. "No. Naturally, I didn't ask him. There are some very nice girls at the ranch, too." "You don't say!" exclaimed Ned. "Will wonders never cease? I'll believe I am not dreaming when I see all this with my own two eyes." "Yes, Colonel McClure has two daughters, and besides these, there is a niece from the East visiting them. She is considerably older than the daughters, but a very beautiful woman." Tad paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Professor, I presume you will have no objection to our accepting Colonel McClure's invitation? You are invited to join us." "Not at all, young gentlemen. But perhaps I had better not intrude----" "Please go," urged Tad. "Sure. He'll go. You will, won't you, Professor?" demanded Ned. "Of course, if you really wish me to----" smiled Professor Zepplin good-naturedly. "Of course we do," chorused the boys. "Very well, I will think it over. I'm afraid, however, that I do not look altogether presentable." "No more do we," answered Walter Perkins. "Tad probably told them we did not." Tad nodded. "They refused to accept that excuse. So I told them we would come." The boys were full of anticipation for this promised break in the monotony of their living; and, besides, they looked forward keenly to meeting the young women about whom their companion had told them. After the meal had been finished Tad asked when they were to begin breaking the new stock. Stallings looked over the ponies critically. "I guess we'll let them stay where they are, for an hour or so yet. It will help to break their spirit. Still think you can break one of them in?" "I am sure of it," answered Tad Butler confidently. "You shall have the chance. However, I shall not permit you to saddle him. Some of the cowpunchers, who are used to that, had better do it for you the first time. Unless one knows these little brutes he is liable to be kicked to death." "I am not afraid." "No, that is the danger of it. Neither is the pony afraid--that is, not until he is blindfolded." About the middle of the afternoon the foreman announced that they would begin the breaking. The cowmen uttered a shout, for the process promised them much boisterous fun. "Is the gopher going to break one of the bronchos?" asked Lumpy Bates. "No, but the Pinto is," replied Curley Adams. "He'll want to go home right away if he tries it, I reckon," jeered Lumpy. "Don't you be too sure about that," retorted Curley. "That kid's got the stuff in him. I've been watching him right along. None of them lads is tenderfeet, unless it's the gopher, and he isn't half as bad as he looks."