As he spoke the guide spurred his animal into the muddy water, with the boys timidly at his heels and closely watching him. At no time during the fording did the ponies sink above their knees. It was a surprise and vast relief when they rode out on the other side without having been compelled to draw up their feet during the passage. "And yet," explained their companion, "if you'd gone three yards to the right or left your critters would have had to swim for their lives, and you'd have had the worst soaking you ever knowed. Now fur the ranch!" CHAPTER VI. AT THE RANCH. The night was well advanced, and the boys, despite their fine physique, felt the effects of the prolonged ride. They had come a goodly distance since morning, the tough little ponies most of the time maintaining a sweeping canter, which placed many miles behind them. Jack and Fred were stiffened, tired and hungry, for no halt was made for supper, it being the intention of the guide to take that meal at the ranch, which he meant to reach before drawing rein. In the midst of the monotonous gallop of the animals the youths were startled by the sound of a laugh, which suddenly rang out on the still air. It was brief and hearty, such as a man emits who is highly pleased over something said by a companion. There was no moon in the sky, but the starlight was as bright as on the previous evening. Peering ahead in the gloom, nothing was to be seen that explained the singular sound. "Did you hear that?" asked Jack of Hazletine. "I s'pose you mean that laugh? Not being deaf, it would have been cur'us if the same hadn't reached my ears." "What was the meaning of it?" "It meant, I s'pose, that somebody was pleased." The lads had to be satisfied with this indefinite answer, but they did not have to wait long for the explanation. Suddenly, from the obscurity ahead, loomed the outlines of a building. It was long, low, and flat, consisting of a single story, like most of the structures in that section of the country. At the same moment that it was observed, a tiny point of light shone through the gloom, and some one called to them: "Is that you, Hank?" "I reckon," was the reply. At the same moment a tall man, rising from the stool on which he had been seated, came forward. He was smoking a pipe, and the gleam of the fire in the bowl was what had been noted before he became visible. "These are the younkers we expected," explained Hazletine, "and, if I ain't mistook, they've brought a purty healthy appetite with 'em." "I've heard of such things afore. Howdy?" The man, who was known as "Kansas Jim," his full name being James Denham, extended his hand to each boy in turn, and they dismounted. "I'll look after the animals," he explained. "Go inside, and I reckon Ira can give you some medicine fur that appetite Hank spoke about."