presently and
calmed down.

"He was goin' to pile me--shore," declared Smith.

Charley Brown caught a blue-gray, fine-looking horse, whose appearance,
no doubt had attracted the miner; but he turned out to be a
counterfeit, and Charley "bit the dust," as Blinky called it.
Whereupon Charley had recourse to the animal he had ridden from Marco.
Hurd showed he was a judge of horses and could ride. Blinky evidently
was laboring under the urge that caused so much disaster among
riders--he wanted to try a new horse. So he caught a jug-headed bay
that did not look as if he could move out of his own way.

"Blink, you must be figuring on sleeping some?" inquired Pan.

"Humph! he'll walk back," snorted Gus. "I tried thet pack animal.
He's hell fer breakfast."

"Gus, if I was goin' to walk I'd leave my saddle heah in camp," drawled
Blinky.

"Blink, I'll let you ride in behind me," added Pan.

As a matter of fact, Pan was not having much luck propitiating the
horse he had selected. Every time Pan would reach under for the cinch
the horse would kick at him and throw off the saddle.

"Hey, Blink, come here," called Pan impatiently. "Hold this nice kind
horse. What'd you call him?"

"Dunny," replied Blink. "An' he's a right shore enough good hoss....
I'll hold him."

Blinky grasped the cars of the horse but that did not work, so Pan
roped his front feet. Blinky held the beast while Pan put the saddle
on, but when he gave the cinch a pull Dunny stood up with a wild shriek
and fell over backwards. He would have struck square on the saddle if
Blinky had not pulled him sideways. Fortunately for Pan the horse
rolled over to the right.

"Pan, turn that thing loose an' catch a horse you can get on," called
his father.

"Don't worry, Dad. I'm ararin' to ride this bird."

"Pard, Dunny will be nice after you buckle down thet saddle an' get
forked on him good," drawled Blinky, with his deceitful grin. "He's
shore a broomie-chasin' devil."

Pan said: "Blink, I'll fool you in a minute... Hold him down now.
Step on his nose." Pulling the right stirrup out from under the horse
Pan drew the cinch a couple of holes tighter, and then straddled him.

"Let him up, Blink."

"All right, pard. Tell us where you want to be buried," replied
Blinky, loosing the lasso and jumping free.

With a blast of rage Dunny got up. But he cunningly got up with his
back first, head down between his legs, and stiff as a poker. He
sca