little while ago from the lower pasture," said Kit, "and
went to his room. He said he had been thrown by his horse, and that the
jar had given him a headache."

"Oh, don't let us wait for him," said Ben. "If he gets to feeling better
he'll be along. You couldn't keep Jack away from a ball with an
injunction."

So they proceeded to town, the boys acting as outriders to the girl,
whom they were convinced would be the belle of the ball.

When they arrived at the hall in Soldier Butte they found the people
flocking in, as Martin, the beneficiary, was a very popular fellow, and
any man in hard luck in the West always gets all the help he needs, if
he deserves it.

Ted escorted Stella into the ballroom, while Ben followed with Mrs.
Graham, the other boys taking the horses around to the corral.

As Ted and Stella entered the room there was a hum of admiration, and
conversation stopped as men and women craned their necks to look at the
handsome couple.

Ted was both proud and pleased, but a little bit embarrassed at the
attention they received, while Stella held her head up proudly, with a
look of indifference on her face, as if she had been used to admiration
all her life.

The ball certainly was a mixed affair.

In one corner were a lot of army officers and their ladies.

All down the sides of the ballroom cowboys were sitting with girls from
the ranches. Town girls and boys had a corner to themselves. The
gamblers flocked together, and miners and others wandered here and
there, mixing with cavalrymen from the fort.

When the boys returned from the corral they found that Mrs. Graham and
Stella and their escorts had preempted a vacant corner.

There was a piano in the room, but no one to play it. Soon, however, a
fellow dressed after the cowboy fashion entered and took a seat on a
raised platform, producing a fiddle from a green bag.

A round of applause greeted him.

He tuned his instrument, and after a few preliminary scrapes began to
play a monotonous tune, repeating over and over again the same few bars.

At the first scrape the cowboys and their girls leaped to the floor and
began to dance, but none of the people from the fort cared to dance to
such music.

Suddenly the door flew open and a band of a dozen cow-punchers walked
into the room, and were greeted by joyous shouts by the other cowboys in
the hall.

At their head was a handsome young fellow, slender and dark, with a
resolute face and a pair