t I won't hurt you. Come on."

The little boy and girl--Teddy carrying his small lasso--went out to a
field not far from the house, and there they played cowboy. As they had
planned, Teddy was the cowboy and Janet the wild pony, and she ran
around until she was tired. Teddy ran after her, now and then throwing
the coils of rope at her.

Sometimes the lasso settled over her head, and then the little boy would
pull it tight, but he was careful not to pull too hard for fear he
might hurt Jan. Once the rope went around her legs, and that time Teddy
gave a sudden yank.

"Oh, I'm falling!" cried Jan, and she went down in a heap.

"That's fine!" cried Teddy. "That's regular wild-wester cowboy! Do it
again, Jan!"

"No! It hurts!" objected the little girl. "You pulled me so hard I fell
down."

"I didn't mean to," said Teddy. "But I can lasso good, can't I?"

"Yes; pretty good," his sister agreed. "But you can't lasso me any more.
I don't want to play. I'm going to the house."

"Did I hurt you much?" Teddy asked.

"Well, not such an awful lot," admitted Jan. "I fell on some soft grass,
though, or you would have. Anyhow, I'm going in."

Teddy looked a little sad for a minute, and then he cried:

"Oh, I know what I can do! You stay and watch me, Jan."

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"You'll see," he answered. "Here, you hold my lasso a minute."

Teddy ran off across the field, and when he came back to where his
sister was still holding the coil of rope the Curlytop boy was leading
by a rope a little calf, one of several that were kept in the stable and
fed milk from a pail.

"What are you going to do, Teddy Martin?" asked the little girl.

"I'm going to play he's a wild steer," answered Teddy.

"Oh, The-o-dore Mar-tin!" cried Janet, much as her mother might have
done. "You're not going to lasso him, are you?"

"I am--if I can," and Teddy spoke slowly. He was not quite sure he
could.

The calf came along easily enough, for Teddy had petted it and fed it
several times.

"He's awful nice," said Janet. "You won't hurt him, will you?"

"Course not!" cried Teddy. "I'll only lasso him a little. Now you come
and hold him by the rope that's on his neck, Jan. And when I tell you to
let go, why, you let go. Then he'll run and I can lasso _him_. I've got
to lasso something that's running, else it isn't real wild-wester."

Jan was ready enough to play this game. She took hold of the calf's
rope, and Teddy go