marked with the sign of the Ring Rosy Ranch. The rooster was very tame,
often eating out of Aunt Millie's hand, so he was not afraid to let
Trouble come up quite close to him.

One day, about a week after the Curlytops had found Clipclap in the
cave, Jim Mason said he thought the pony was well enough to be ridden.
Clipclap was brought out in the yard and Teddy and Janet went up to him.

The pony put his nose close to them and rubbed his head against their
outstretched hands.

"See, he knows us!" cried Janet.

"And I guess he's thanking us for bringing him water," added her
brother.

"And getting the doctor to cure him of poison," went on the little
girl. "I'm glad he likes you, Teddy."

"And your pony likes you, too, Janet," said the little boy.

Janet's pony, Star Face, certainly seemed to like her. For he came when
she called him and took lumps of sugar from her hand. He liked Teddy,
too. In fact both ponies were very pretty and friendly and it would be
hard to say which was the better. Janet liked hers and Teddy liked his,
and that is the best thing I can say about them.

No one came to claim Clipclap. Though Uncle Frank spoke to a number of
other ranchmen about finding the sick pony, none of them had ever seen
Clipclap before as far as they knew. If he belonged to some other ranch
it must have been far away.

"So you may feel that it is all right for you to keep your pony,
Curlytop," said Uncle Frank to Teddy. "If anyone should, later, say it
belongs to him, and can prove it, we'll give it up, of course."

"But I don't want to give Clipclap up!" Teddy cried.

"Well, maybe you won't have to," said his father. "But you must not keep
what is not yours. Anyhow, if you should have to give up Clipclap Uncle
Frank will give you another pony."

"There couldn't be any as nice as Clipclap--not even Janet's Star Face,"
declared Teddy.

He felt bad at the thought of having to give up his pet, but there was
no need to, for as the weeks went on no one came to claim Clipclap, and
Teddy counted him as his own.

By this time Teddy and Janet had learned to ride quite well for such
little children. They knew how to sit in a saddle, up straight like an
arrow, and not slouched down or all humped up "like a bag of meal," as
Uncle Frank was wont to say. They knew how to guide their ponies by
pulling on the reins to left or to right, according to which way they
wanted to go.

Of course they could not ride very fast yet,