ce.

"It's One-eyed Saylo," she said. "He always acts like that--he thinks it
wouldn't be showing proper respect to a lady unless he wasted half a
dozen cartridges and showed off his horsemanship."

Saylo acknowledged his introduction to Scylla with great ceremony, and
then told John that he had come to bring the loco-weed for the college
professor. By dint of much searching and hard riding he had gathered a
gunny-sack full of it.

Then, as they rode slowly toward the ranch, he told John how the cattle
in the whole region seemed to be getting "panicky." All the cow-boys he
had met had had the same story to tell. It was only by the most careful
handling that they were able to keep their herds from stampeding.

By this time the little cavalcade had reached the ranch. After Scylla
had been lifted from the saddle and carried to her seat on the porch,
Martha, full of the irrepressible good spirits of a healthy girl, had a
long frolic with her big black horse. She took his saddle off, and let
him enjoy the luxury of a long roll on the grass, and then she made him
do all his tricks. First he shook hands with great dignity--"just to
show that this was friendly fun," Martha said. Then she replaced the
saddle, clambered to its easy seat, and put him through his paces. He
walked, slow and stately, with much self-consciousness, as a real
Spanish horse should; he trotted, he loped, he paced, and went
single-foot, greatly to the admiration of the three spectators. Martha
kept her seat with perfect ease and grace.

Two posts near the house Martha had turned into the uprights of a
jumping-hurdle with bars which could be placed at various heights. Over
these bars that afternoon, Dan, with Martha sticking to his back like a
burr, jumped many times, surpassing, to the delight of both girls, his
previous best record.

John, in the meantime, was busy in the shop, where One-eyed Saylo had
followed him to gossip with the workmen about the all-absorbing topic of
saddles and bridles. Martha had finished her fun, led Dan away and
picketed him, and was sitting by Scylla's side talking about that happy
day when health and strength should have come back to the preacher's
little daughter, when the men came out again. The gunny-sack of
loco-weed was lying at the side of the porch, and both girls watched
John and Saylo with interest as they shook out and examined its
contents.

"So they all want some of this stuff to look at an' study, up No't